Pirates and Power: Digital Resources

Exquemelin, Alexandre Olivier. Bucaniers of America, or, A true account of the most remarkable assaults committed of late years upon the coasts of the West Indies, by the bucaniers of Jamaica (London, 1684-1685). UF SMATHERS, Special Coll Rare Books (Non-Circulating)  F2161 .E75 1684

Foundational account of Caribbean piracy based on Esquemelin’s experiences as a merchantman turned buccaneer, and as a member of the crew of Henry Morgan, privateer and later Lt. Governor of Jamaica. Bound with another account of a buccaneering voyage of the 1680s, Captain Bartholomew Sharp’s travels around the South American coast back to the Isthmus of Panama. Excerpts include the translator’s preface to English readers, Esquemelin’s accounts of his voyage across the Atlantic to Tortuga, his description of the earlier Jamaican pirate Roc (Roche) Brasiliano, and his impressions of Captain Henry Morgan’s battles in Panama.

Bucaniers of America (ProQuest)

A digitized copy (in black and white from microfilm) of Alexander Esquemelin's Bucaniers of America (1684) from ProQuest's Early English Books Online Database. You must be logged in to a campus network or using our VPN to access this resource off campus.

Text version available at Gutenberg Books:

https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/73564/pg73564-images.html

Johnson, Capt. Charles (fl. 1724-1736). A general history of the lives and adventures of the most famous highwaymen, murderers, street-robbers, etc. (London, 1736). UF SMATHERS, Special Coll Rare Books (Non-Circulating)   364.15 J66g Oversize

Incorporates the account of Morgan’s early career from Esquemelin, portraying him alongside pirates like Blackbeard and Henry Every (Avery). Written by the pseudonymous “Captain Charles Johnson” and joined with a history of Highwaymen robbers, both notorious and romantic, which had first appeared in 1714. Attempts to preserve the “accuracy” of the lives described, as an example to the work’s audience. Excerpts include the introduction, the Life of Morgan, the Life of Avery, and the Life of Blackbeard.

A 1742 edition is available at Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/generaltruehisto00defo/mode/2up

The Pirates Own Book. (Portland, ME: 1837).  UF SMATHERS, Special Coll Rare Books (Non-Circulating)       923.41 P667   

Digest of the lives and exploits of pirates through the ages. Includes an account of Jean Lafitte and a different account of John Gow.    

An 1856 edition is available at the Library of Congress

https://www.loc.gov/item/47035726 

A speech or complaint lately made by the Spanish embassadour to His Majestie at Oxford upon occasion of the taking of a ship called Sancta Clara in the port of Sancto Domingo.... (London, 1643)

Petition by Alonso de Cardenas before Charles I, occasioned by Capt. Bennett Stafford’s capture of the Santa Clara, and prohibition by the king of the disposal or sale of the plunder. 

An online version is available to UF Students for download from Taylor and Francis E-Books if you use the VPN -

Alonso de Cardenas, A Speech, or Complaint, Lately Made by the Spanish Embassadour to his Majestie at Oxford (1643)

Pestana, Carla Gardina ; Salinger, Sharon V.; Pestana, Carla Gardina ; Salinger, Sharon V.

The Early English Caribbean, 1570–1700, 2014, Vol.2, p.37-42

Souvenir map, Ye True Chart of Pirate Treasure in Florida.  Illustrated by Warner Sanford. (Robinsons Litho, Orlando, 1950)

An online copy at David Rumsey Maps –

Ballads and Broadsides:

The English Broadside Ballad Archive is a database of digitized songsheets, mostly from the 17th and the 18th centuries. You can search its entries for words like "pirate" "buccaneer"

The malefactor's register, or, The new Newgate and Tyburn calendar: containing the authentic lives, trials, accounts of executions, and dying speeches, of the most notorious violators of the laws of their country (London, c. 1779) UF SMATHERS, Special Coll Rare Books (Non-Circulating)  KD370 .M35 1779

A “rogue’s gallery” published in 5 volumes detailing the crimes and punishments of notorious 18^th century pirates alongside murderers, extortionists, and forgers. Printed as an inducement to proper behavior and as an extension of the theater of punishment. Parallel sources can be found in shorter pamphlet publications and broadsides detailing the trials and executions of criminals in Georgian London. Excerpts include the trial of John Gow (1724), and copperplate engravings of Criminals and punishments.

Volume Two online, the volume showing Executioner’s Dock

https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-malefactors-registe_1779_4/page/n1/mode/2up

Minutes of Proceedings of the Courts of Inquiry and Court Martial in Relation to Captain David Porter, Convened at Washington, D.C., on Thursday, the Seventh day of July, A.D. 1825.  Printed by Davis and Force, Pennsylvania Ave. 

Porter, a naval hero of the War of 1812, was in command of a West Indies squadron for the suppression of piracy; he attacked a Spanish town in retaliation for the abuse of one of his officers and was court martialed.  Excerpts include the standing orders issued regarding piracy and an account of one of his commanders about chasing down pirates.

UF SMATHERS, Special Coll Florida history (Non-Circulating) - FB P844u  

E-version available in several formats – check the UF Library Catalog  

Minutes of proceedings of the Courts of inquiry and court martial, in relation to Captain David Porter : convened at Washington, D.C. on Thursday, the seventh day of July, A.D. 1825

Labels with pirate themes from the Jerry Chicone Jr. Florida Citrus Label Collection: Booty, Combat, Cutlass, Gasparilla, Jolly Roger, Raider, Tree Gold

Search the Jerry Chicone Citrus Label Collection for "pirates":

https://ufdc.ufl.edu/collections/CITRUSLABEL

“The Florida Pirate,” Blackworth’s Magazine, pp. 173-189 (December, 1821).

First version of a story by John Howison about a shipwreck survivor picked up by a pirate ship under the command of a black pirate.  It was reprinted in 1823 and changed so that the protagonist was an escaped slave picked up by pirates.  The second version seems to be strongly abolitionist in tone. The text of the original is online in Prof. Thomas Hallock’s Early Visions of Florida website (USF), paired with an image and title page from the 1823 version:

https://earlyfloridalit.net/john-howison-the-florida-pirate/

There is also a good digital article in JSTOR about this work: Daniel Williams, “Refuge upon the Sea: Captivity and Liberty in ‘The Florida Pirate,’” Early American Literature, Vol. 36, No. 1 (2001), pp. 71-88

Brochures and advertisements for the Gasparilla pirate festival in Tampa, Fla.  Avast there mates! There’s piracy afoot and Tampa’s your rendezvous! (1953).  Born to be Hanged – but he Wasn’t (1953).  Florida Ephmera and Brochure Collection, Binder 88.  Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (1967).  UF SMATHERS, Special Coll Florida history (Non-Circulating)    F.2. T15 M998g