The Golden Age of Piracy

The Golden Age of Piracy spanned the period from approximately 1650 to 1726. During this period, bands of pirates menaced commercial—and sometimes even military—shipping in the Caribbean, along the North American eastern seaboard, the West African coast, and the Indian Ocean. The characters from the Golden Age of Piracy and their exploits form the basis of the modern conception of pirates as depicted in popular culture. --Mark F. Hall

The trials and reports in this collection reflect the storytelling conventions of their day. They feature imaginative, even sensational, narration in a style akin to that of a literary genre known as a chronicle. They are replete with colorful language that evocatively reconstitutes what transpired, albeit with a touch of creative zeal.

^{Title page illustration with scenes of piratical barbarity, 1678. "De Americaensche Zee-Roovers (Pirates of America) by A. O. Exquemelin. Publ. Amsterdam. https://www.loc.gov/item/2004670858/.} 

Trials and Accounts

Below is a sample of cases included in this collection.

^{Title page from "A Report of the Trial of Pedro Gibert, Bernardo de Soto, Francisco Ruiz, Nicola Costa, Antonio Ferrer, Manuel Boyga, Domingo de Guzmán, Juan Antonio Portana, Manuel Castillo, Ángel García, José Velázquez, and Juan Montenegro alias José Basilio de Castro, before the U.S. Circuit Court": http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lawlib3&fileName=law0001_201000173321600page.db}