The Pirates Own Book, or Authentic Narratives of the Lives, Exploits, and Executions of the Most Celebrated Sea Robbers.
(Ellms, Charles ).
( 1855), Portland.
19 cm. xii-432 pp. b/w wood engravings
Price: $300
First published in the 1830s, Ellmss compilation shows a curious ambivalence toward pirates and pirating in that the narratives are emphatic about the harm and evil of piracy, and almost equally interested to show it as a human endeavor, whose practitioners range from Alexander the Great to Blackbeard. With wonderfully over-the-top wood engravings. Occasional spotting and foxing, a couple of signatures pulled but holding well. Overall, a good copy of a legendary American pirate book in publisher’s blindstamped cloth binding with gilt decoration on backstrip.
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