Who, according to the examination of every port document of his age, never existed. Never, in the story of the english navy, there was a Captain Charles Johnson, however weird this sounds.
The General History of piracy (A General History of the of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates) by Captain Charles Johnson, published for the first time in london , 1724, is a work that presents the lives of the most renowned pirates of its time, mixing historical facts and details of pure fiction.
Thsi book was a success, and was soon brought back in three more editions. The last was published in 1726, with a volume added detailing the biographies of twelve more pirates. The success, even in recent times, is to be credited to both the theme and the mystery behind the author, who for much time was believed to be a pseudonym to Daniel Defoe.
It is a great book, much beloved by piracy buffs. It is also a blatantly fake, but enjoyable, romantic work: if we were able to separate all the fantasies from the historical facts we would probably have the only existing work on the costumes of the pirates of that historical moment, since everybody was too afraid, or disgusted, to write something about it which was not on the lines of “to the gallows!”
these are the names of the famous pirates whose adventures are detailed by the author: Capitano Avery
- Captain Martel
- Captain Teach (Blackbeard)
- Major Bonnet
- Captain England
- Captain Vane
- Captain Rackham
- Mary Read – pirate woman who dressed as a man for adventure
- Anne Bonny – like her colleague above. It is said that the two were lovers, but it may be romantic invention
- Captain Davs
- Captain Robert
- Captain Anstis
- Captain Worley
- Captain Lowther
- Captain Low
- Captain Evans
- Captain Phillips
- Captain Spriggs
- Captain Gow
- Captain Kidd
I tell a lie: there is another text. It is called “America’s Buccaneers, by Alexander Olivier Esquemeling” an original edition from 1678, used for the historical writing of “the slave ship” by James L.Nelson. Gord, obviously, possesses a rare copy- or he used to, before it was stolen from him.
But this is another story, for another book.
Gord