Exquemelin and the Pirates of the Caribbean

by Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin, Jane Shuter (Editor)

Alexandre Exquemelin, a seventeenth-century pirate, describes the buccaneering life and the exploits of Captain Henry Morgan

48 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (also spelled Esquemeling, Exquemeling, or Oexmelin) was a French writer best known as the author of one of the most important sourcebooks of 17th century piracy, first published in Dutch as De Americaensche Zee-Roovers, in Amsterdam, by Jan ten Hoorn, in 1678.

Born about 1645, it is likely that Exquemelin was a native of Harfleur, France, who on his return from buccaneering settled in Holland, possibly because he was a Huguenot. In 1666 he was engaged by the French West India Company and went to Tortuga, where he stayed for three years. There he enlisted with the buccaneers, in particular with the band of Henry Morgan, whose confidante he was, probably as a barber-surgeon, and remained with them until 1674. Shortly afterwards he returned to Europe and settled in Amsterdam where he qualified professionally as a surgeon, his name appearing on the 1679 register of the Dutch Surgeons' Guild. However, he was later once again in the Caribbean as his name appears on the muster-roll as a surgeon in the attack on Cartagena in 1697.

- Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Mike Finn]

An account of his participation in the piracy in the Caribbean in the 17th century this account had the possibility of both a view of old English written structure and an inside look at piracy.
It was neither. The "translation" was more the authors interpretation of events than Exquemelin"s portrayal.
A minor pieate who sailed with Morgan his account could have been facinating. And the passages where the author quoted him actually were.
I guess I was hoping for the actual book written by Exquemelin and not what this contained