A General History of the Pyrates

Common card · No. 225674

A General History of the Pyrates, is a two volume book published in Britain containing biographies of contemporary pirates, which was influential in shaping popular conceptions of pirates. The prime source for the biographies of many well-known pirates, the book gives an almost mythical status to the more colourful characters, and it is likely that the author used considerable artistic license in his accounts of pirate conversations. The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History says that the work "is not a historical primary source but is a fabulous literary one", and that it is the root of a lot of confusion and misconceptions about the history of piracy. Its author uses the name Captain Charles Johnson, generally considered a pen name for one of London's writer-publishers. The book also contains the first recorded use of the name Jolly Roger for the pirate flag, and shows the skull and crossbones design. It is not considered a reliable historical source by many modern scholars...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Captain Charles Johnson, Public domain