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aletheiafelineaUnlike the others, this reading list has not only recent readings (in fact, mostly not recent), but I wanted to gather them in one entry, so it be useful for the Age of Sail fandom(s). The general rules as always: the original titles, with translations if needed, and the covers of editions I used (Polish), just for your eye's joy and my fancy for any pictures. All excerpts are not my translations; I use the English editions for them.
Herman Melville, White Jacket or The World in a Man-of-War
I doubt if I can add anything more to what![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
anteros_lmc said, so let me just tell it's wonderful. *g* It reads great, if you're able to squint and take occasional pompous exaltation here and there for the epoch's colour, especially that it often is on the verge of mock, intertwined with the tell tale humour. All the fun aside, the book is AN ENORMOUS GEYSER OF DETAILED INFORMATION. It looks like as useful and obligatory reading for naval writers as Naval Acts, only more entertaining.
# As we glided on toward our anchorage, the bands of the various men-of-war in harbour saluted us with national airs, and gallantly lowered their ensigns. Nothing can exceed the courteous etiquette of these ships, of all nations, in greeting their brethren. Of all men, your accomplished duellist is generally the most polite.
# Instead of tossing this old lead and iron into the air, therefore, it would be much better amicably to toss up a copper and let heads win.
# As this signal-book contains the Masonic signs and tokens of the navy, and would there-fore be invaluable to an enemy, its binding is always bordered with lead, so as to insure its sinking in case the ship should be captured. Not the only book this, that might appropriately be bound in lead, though there be many where the author, and not the bookbinder, furnishes the metal.
# Among other things, a number of men were detailed to pass up the rusty cannon-balls from the shot-lockers in the hold, and scrape them clean for service. The Commodore was a very neat gentleman, and would not fire a dirty shot into his foe.
You can get the full text here.
Alexandre Exquemelin, De Americaensche Zee-Rovers (Buccaneers of America)
A document that has been the source for many secondary sources you could use. If you ever wondered what Elizabeth Swann could actually have on her shelf, Exquemelin can be one of answers. Don't expect an adventurous, swashbuckling, romantic ballad though, it's not XIX century yet. So perhaps Lizzie's copy wasn't very worn and didn't lay on her nightstand, especially that it contains more flayed and burned captives than handsome rogues. The book not only reports the history, but had become a part of this history itself, the 'biography' of its editions being quite a tale on its own. Reportedly, the book was the subject of the first English process for defamation lost by the publisher, what means that in the next English editions (at least the XVIII age ones) Henry Morgan was a pure lamb and 'our great hero'. However, it's quite a challenge to find out which edition you happen to get, there was just too many of them, and too variable they were. Not to mention nowadays the primary text is published with comments, like my copy, what makes the modern editions quite another books yet. Never mind comments though, changes in the primary document are big enough to make some versions rather different books than different editions. It seems there's no single thing that would be constant, from Exquemelin himself, who happened to be at times Esquemeling, Oexmelin, Schimmelin… (same as names of the figures and places he describes), through the title altering between 'pirates of America' and 'pirate diaries', the style which in my edition is matter-of-fact and paper-is-costly, giving five words of opinions and impressions for fifteen pages of a careful, weighed report, but sensational and flourish in some others, to essential differences, like the fragment about friars used by Morgan as shields in the siege of Portobello, where in different editions a.) the trick fails and the friars die; b.) the trick works and the defenders hold fire. In general, the earlier edition the more reliable it is. The next paragraphs of this review regard only my edition, based on a modern English translation of one of the first Dutch versions, with a modern comment.
Surprisingly, you can rarely find any direct statement that the author writes what he witnessed, as if he left it as a default silent assumption, being corrected and specified only in cases when he tells things he got from others, having no proof on his own, and wants to warn about it; only in times some “I remember” or “I saw” flashes, usually in times when he writes about a disputable matter and realizes it needs some personal testimony. In general, Exquemelin writes hardly anything about Exquemelin himself, apparently finding him not enough interesting. So I have to disappoint you also if you expect anything about a privateer surgeon's life and trade. *sigh*
What he does write though, not always is so well known tale as you can expect, compared to the popular image. It's the irony of fate that one of the most popular sources on the matter can be surprising when really read, not only mentioned as a 'known' title. Maybe Exquemelin would be surprised, seeing what can be a surprise in his report today. Free (or rather 'free') contract workers's fate being worse than owned slaves' life? Pirates preferring small vessels as tools of the trade, or Port Royal as an abode of piracy aren't such novelties, but how about motley bands of brigands able to effective platoon-like disciplined fire, and besting regular royal forces in it? And speaking of defamations, Sir Alexandre, there's one good news and one bad. Morgan the Bloody Pirate sells now better than Morgan the Glorious Hero. Alas, you can expect a court summon signed by native Caribbeans, for what you have written about their ancestors' cuisine...
You can get online the full English text from 1914, or read one of the first editions: Dutch, 1678, German, 1679, French, 1686.
Brenda Ralph Lewis, The Pirate Code: From Honorable Thieves to Modern-Day Villains
The title is somewhat misleading, cause the book cites a few of the codes, but actually is a general history of piracy, or such is its ambition at least. Ancient Mediterranean pirates on one end and XX age piracy on the other has been granted with long and relatively detailed reports; Vikings, the Barbary Coast, China and Japan also got theirs, and of course there's plenty about the XVII-XVIII ages merry company, mostly in the Caribbean. Yet there's not a word about the late Middle Ages on the Baltic and North Sea, and the all 1730-1900 is a big black hole.
The book can be useful if someone is freshly interested in the subject, but I'd be wary about using it as a resource. Despite of numerous quotes, citation seems an unknown idea there, and the bibliography (yeah, there's one, thankfully) contains only modern works, so it looks like it's better to read them instead. How reliable they are, it's quite another story though. Judging on said bibliography, the Code is between others based on Exquemelin's 1969 New York edition, which apparently was one of embellished ones. The conclusion is: read the Code if you want just anything on the theme and there's nothing else available at the moment, but take it with a grain of salt.
OK, that was an objective view. As for the (very) subjective opinion, I finished it only for that I don't like unread things on my shelf, and I happen to be an unfortunate owner of a copy... In my edition it has 192 pages which took me months and I was bored to death by 70% of them. It resembles one of that quasi-documentaries with a break for ads in every ten minutes, and the recall of what has been told so far/will be told soon being offered before and after each break, apparently targeted to watchers with a goldfish memory. Seriously, the book has such repeated fragments scattered everywhere. Wait a minute, you're asking, but what about those left 30% then? Why, that were illustrations! *g* They were black and white, and to tell the truth, I liked this way at least this one better. The original is too garish for my taste. Except that, I love this painting to bits.
Aleksander Fredro, Trzy po trzy: pamiętniki z epoki napoleońskiej (Topsy Turvy Talk: [memoirs from the Napoleonic epoch])
Count Aleksander Fredro is an important figure in the Polish literature. Known mostly for his comedies, he decided to use his deft quill also for memoirs of his young years, mostly between 1809-1814, the time when he was an aide in Napoleon's staff, an Army courier and later a captain of cavalry.
Talking trzy po trzy means babbling with no much sense and order, and though literature experts claim the memoirs are actually well thought and precisely construed, the reader's impression is just that: topsy-turvy. It's one great whirl of small scenes and thoughts, devil knows how connected and passing from one to another in a single long flow. Intertwined in them there are portraits of people, horses and places, sometimes quite literally – a short annex lists one-two sentenced descriptions of physical appearances and characters of personages Fredro had met or seen, from Napoleon, through kings, dukes, governors and generals, to his commanders and friends. The main text in reading feels rather scanty; more like a bunch of notes to a bigger work. Still, a researcher can fish out some informations – the everyday life of couriers, or details of uniforms – and even literary inspirations, like one or two unexpectedly eerie memories resembling gothic tales, or the three ways of calling „Qui vive?” on a watch.
You can read online the full original text, but I’m afraid there’s no free English translation… But at least here’s a very long sample. ;)
Astolphe de Custine, Letters de Russie: la Russie en 1839 (Letters from Russia: Russia in 1839)
Marquis De Custine traveled to Russia in 1839 to see some strong regime in the good old fashion, being skeptical for the messy and quarrelsome French republic, and came back claiming that on the second thought it's not so bad, that is the latter one. Then he published his letters from the travel; the letters that were never actually send in the time of their writing, due of anxiety that the imperial post-office could be overly interested in them. The book was a bestseller and scandal, the latter obviously feeding the former, and no wonder since the Marquis picked the Russian empire to pieces. I was able to get only an abridged edition, so please, do mind that my opinion regards mostly the general impression.
In reading one has a strong feeling that the form of letters is nothing more than a literary convention. From the very beginning they contain the views which the author get after collecting experiences and considering them, and only scraps of the ones he had in the time the given letter is dated. Sometimes it gives quite a bizarre impression, especially when the author relates his talks with Nicholas I, adding the quite different commentary. Admittedly the Emperor was far from being an innocent lamb, but one can hardly wonder at his fury, once he'd gotten the most condemning book after being fed with far more butter than diplomacy and courtesy demands.
One can get historical details from the book – the customs clearance and control in Saint Petersburg's port; a royal wedding's ceremony; the decorations of a palace giving a ball and the illumination of Peterhof's park on a special occasion; the construction of city streets pavement – but in general it's mostly an analysis of the way the Empire works and the people think. From the modern reader's point of view, it also applies to any absolutist and/or totalitarian regime construed and maintained by the mingle of fear and hypocrisy, divine status of rulers and blind obedience of ruled. The analysis is in-depth and observant, even if often repetitive and maybe a bit overtalked. The author proves himself as a very modern-like reporter, well read in works on the subject of his interest and well oriented in the newest history and politics, a cosmopolite not limiting himself to his native country, though his origin (Western and Catholic) strongly influences his views. His judgments feel sometimes not enough grounded, as if he shared conclusions without the reasoning preceding them (very possibly the result of my cut edition), but in some cases he turned out a surprisingly good prophet. One can only guess how his predictions had seemed like, before the history proved them true.
# Thus I was afraid and I was sad out of politeness to be like everybody else.
# If people will defend their prejudices against evidence, where is the good of traveling?
You can get online the full original text, but as far as I know, you need to buy the English translation.
Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque, Le Cahier rouge (The Red Notebook)
The book is an autobiography written in 1811, recalling the author's youngest years from 1767 to 1787. It can be shortest summarized as Austen's world by man's eyes. The Notebook is very short but it contains a surprising amount of memoirs and events, started with a review of the little Ben's tutors, through the teen Benjamin's love affairs, and his escapade through England with no goal, coming to... the lack of end. The book is cut on a memoir of a duel. All in all it's a concise portrait of the epoch with a good psychological insight, if not to count that in the plot's department it gives the reader mostly “Huh? Why? What for?”, and one feels the author smirks and nods to such reaction, telling with forty-years-old cynicism about twenty-years-old Wertheric foolishness, though not without nostalgia.
*sigh* I regret I couldn't offer more quotes for Fredro, Custine, and Constant, alas I hadn't the full English translations.
Herman Melville, White Jacket or The World in a Man-of-WarI doubt if I can add anything more to what
anteros_lmc said, so let me just tell it's wonderful. *g* It reads great, if you're able to squint and take occasional pompous exaltation here and there for the epoch's colour, especially that it often is on the verge of mock, intertwined with the tell tale humour. All the fun aside, the book is AN ENORMOUS GEYSER OF DETAILED INFORMATION. It looks like as useful and obligatory reading for naval writers as Naval Acts, only more entertaining.# As we glided on toward our anchorage, the bands of the various men-of-war in harbour saluted us with national airs, and gallantly lowered their ensigns. Nothing can exceed the courteous etiquette of these ships, of all nations, in greeting their brethren. Of all men, your accomplished duellist is generally the most polite.
# Instead of tossing this old lead and iron into the air, therefore, it would be much better amicably to toss up a copper and let heads win.
# As this signal-book contains the Masonic signs and tokens of the navy, and would there-fore be invaluable to an enemy, its binding is always bordered with lead, so as to insure its sinking in case the ship should be captured. Not the only book this, that might appropriately be bound in lead, though there be many where the author, and not the bookbinder, furnishes the metal.
# Among other things, a number of men were detailed to pass up the rusty cannon-balls from the shot-lockers in the hold, and scrape them clean for service. The Commodore was a very neat gentleman, and would not fire a dirty shot into his foe.
You can get the full text here.
Alexandre Exquemelin, De Americaensche Zee-Rovers (Buccaneers of America)A document that has been the source for many secondary sources you could use. If you ever wondered what Elizabeth Swann could actually have on her shelf, Exquemelin can be one of answers. Don't expect an adventurous, swashbuckling, romantic ballad though, it's not XIX century yet. So perhaps Lizzie's copy wasn't very worn and didn't lay on her nightstand, especially that it contains more flayed and burned captives than handsome rogues. The book not only reports the history, but had become a part of this history itself, the 'biography' of its editions being quite a tale on its own. Reportedly, the book was the subject of the first English process for defamation lost by the publisher, what means that in the next English editions (at least the XVIII age ones) Henry Morgan was a pure lamb and 'our great hero'. However, it's quite a challenge to find out which edition you happen to get, there was just too many of them, and too variable they were. Not to mention nowadays the primary text is published with comments, like my copy, what makes the modern editions quite another books yet. Never mind comments though, changes in the primary document are big enough to make some versions rather different books than different editions. It seems there's no single thing that would be constant, from Exquemelin himself, who happened to be at times Esquemeling, Oexmelin, Schimmelin… (same as names of the figures and places he describes), through the title altering between 'pirates of America' and 'pirate diaries', the style which in my edition is matter-of-fact and paper-is-costly, giving five words of opinions and impressions for fifteen pages of a careful, weighed report, but sensational and flourish in some others, to essential differences, like the fragment about friars used by Morgan as shields in the siege of Portobello, where in different editions a.) the trick fails and the friars die; b.) the trick works and the defenders hold fire. In general, the earlier edition the more reliable it is. The next paragraphs of this review regard only my edition, based on a modern English translation of one of the first Dutch versions, with a modern comment.
Surprisingly, you can rarely find any direct statement that the author writes what he witnessed, as if he left it as a default silent assumption, being corrected and specified only in cases when he tells things he got from others, having no proof on his own, and wants to warn about it; only in times some “I remember” or “I saw” flashes, usually in times when he writes about a disputable matter and realizes it needs some personal testimony. In general, Exquemelin writes hardly anything about Exquemelin himself, apparently finding him not enough interesting. So I have to disappoint you also if you expect anything about a privateer surgeon's life and trade. *sigh*
What he does write though, not always is so well known tale as you can expect, compared to the popular image. It's the irony of fate that one of the most popular sources on the matter can be surprising when really read, not only mentioned as a 'known' title. Maybe Exquemelin would be surprised, seeing what can be a surprise in his report today. Free (or rather 'free') contract workers's fate being worse than owned slaves' life? Pirates preferring small vessels as tools of the trade, or Port Royal as an abode of piracy aren't such novelties, but how about motley bands of brigands able to effective platoon-like disciplined fire, and besting regular royal forces in it? And speaking of defamations, Sir Alexandre, there's one good news and one bad. Morgan the Bloody Pirate sells now better than Morgan the Glorious Hero. Alas, you can expect a court summon signed by native Caribbeans, for what you have written about their ancestors' cuisine...
You can get online the full English text from 1914, or read one of the first editions: Dutch, 1678, German, 1679, French, 1686.
Brenda Ralph Lewis, The Pirate Code: From Honorable Thieves to Modern-Day VillainsThe title is somewhat misleading, cause the book cites a few of the codes, but actually is a general history of piracy, or such is its ambition at least. Ancient Mediterranean pirates on one end and XX age piracy on the other has been granted with long and relatively detailed reports; Vikings, the Barbary Coast, China and Japan also got theirs, and of course there's plenty about the XVII-XVIII ages merry company, mostly in the Caribbean. Yet there's not a word about the late Middle Ages on the Baltic and North Sea, and the all 1730-1900 is a big black hole.
The book can be useful if someone is freshly interested in the subject, but I'd be wary about using it as a resource. Despite of numerous quotes, citation seems an unknown idea there, and the bibliography (yeah, there's one, thankfully) contains only modern works, so it looks like it's better to read them instead. How reliable they are, it's quite another story though. Judging on said bibliography, the Code is between others based on Exquemelin's 1969 New York edition, which apparently was one of embellished ones. The conclusion is: read the Code if you want just anything on the theme and there's nothing else available at the moment, but take it with a grain of salt.
OK, that was an objective view. As for the (very) subjective opinion, I finished it only for that I don't like unread things on my shelf, and I happen to be an unfortunate owner of a copy... In my edition it has 192 pages which took me months and I was bored to death by 70% of them. It resembles one of that quasi-documentaries with a break for ads in every ten minutes, and the recall of what has been told so far/will be told soon being offered before and after each break, apparently targeted to watchers with a goldfish memory. Seriously, the book has such repeated fragments scattered everywhere. Wait a minute, you're asking, but what about those left 30% then? Why, that were illustrations! *g* They were black and white, and to tell the truth, I liked this way at least this one better. The original is too garish for my taste. Except that, I love this painting to bits.
Aleksander Fredro, Trzy po trzy: pamiętniki z epoki napoleońskiej (Topsy Turvy Talk: [memoirs from the Napoleonic epoch])Count Aleksander Fredro is an important figure in the Polish literature. Known mostly for his comedies, he decided to use his deft quill also for memoirs of his young years, mostly between 1809-1814, the time when he was an aide in Napoleon's staff, an Army courier and later a captain of cavalry.
Talking trzy po trzy means babbling with no much sense and order, and though literature experts claim the memoirs are actually well thought and precisely construed, the reader's impression is just that: topsy-turvy. It's one great whirl of small scenes and thoughts, devil knows how connected and passing from one to another in a single long flow. Intertwined in them there are portraits of people, horses and places, sometimes quite literally – a short annex lists one-two sentenced descriptions of physical appearances and characters of personages Fredro had met or seen, from Napoleon, through kings, dukes, governors and generals, to his commanders and friends. The main text in reading feels rather scanty; more like a bunch of notes to a bigger work. Still, a researcher can fish out some informations – the everyday life of couriers, or details of uniforms – and even literary inspirations, like one or two unexpectedly eerie memories resembling gothic tales, or the three ways of calling „Qui vive?” on a watch.
You can read online the full original text, but I’m afraid there’s no free English translation… But at least here’s a very long sample. ;)
Astolphe de Custine, Letters de Russie: la Russie en 1839 (Letters from Russia: Russia in 1839)Marquis De Custine traveled to Russia in 1839 to see some strong regime in the good old fashion, being skeptical for the messy and quarrelsome French republic, and came back claiming that on the second thought it's not so bad, that is the latter one. Then he published his letters from the travel; the letters that were never actually send in the time of their writing, due of anxiety that the imperial post-office could be overly interested in them. The book was a bestseller and scandal, the latter obviously feeding the former, and no wonder since the Marquis picked the Russian empire to pieces. I was able to get only an abridged edition, so please, do mind that my opinion regards mostly the general impression.
In reading one has a strong feeling that the form of letters is nothing more than a literary convention. From the very beginning they contain the views which the author get after collecting experiences and considering them, and only scraps of the ones he had in the time the given letter is dated. Sometimes it gives quite a bizarre impression, especially when the author relates his talks with Nicholas I, adding the quite different commentary. Admittedly the Emperor was far from being an innocent lamb, but one can hardly wonder at his fury, once he'd gotten the most condemning book after being fed with far more butter than diplomacy and courtesy demands.
One can get historical details from the book – the customs clearance and control in Saint Petersburg's port; a royal wedding's ceremony; the decorations of a palace giving a ball and the illumination of Peterhof's park on a special occasion; the construction of city streets pavement – but in general it's mostly an analysis of the way the Empire works and the people think. From the modern reader's point of view, it also applies to any absolutist and/or totalitarian regime construed and maintained by the mingle of fear and hypocrisy, divine status of rulers and blind obedience of ruled. The analysis is in-depth and observant, even if often repetitive and maybe a bit overtalked. The author proves himself as a very modern-like reporter, well read in works on the subject of his interest and well oriented in the newest history and politics, a cosmopolite not limiting himself to his native country, though his origin (Western and Catholic) strongly influences his views. His judgments feel sometimes not enough grounded, as if he shared conclusions without the reasoning preceding them (very possibly the result of my cut edition), but in some cases he turned out a surprisingly good prophet. One can only guess how his predictions had seemed like, before the history proved them true.
# Thus I was afraid and I was sad out of politeness to be like everybody else.
# If people will defend their prejudices against evidence, where is the good of traveling?
You can get online the full original text, but as far as I know, you need to buy the English translation.
Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque, Le Cahier rouge (The Red Notebook)The book is an autobiography written in 1811, recalling the author's youngest years from 1767 to 1787. It can be shortest summarized as Austen's world by man's eyes. The Notebook is very short but it contains a surprising amount of memoirs and events, started with a review of the little Ben's tutors, through the teen Benjamin's love affairs, and his escapade through England with no goal, coming to... the lack of end. The book is cut on a memoir of a duel. All in all it's a concise portrait of the epoch with a good psychological insight, if not to count that in the plot's department it gives the reader mostly “Huh? Why? What for?”, and one feels the author smirks and nods to such reaction, telling with forty-years-old cynicism about twenty-years-old Wertheric foolishness, though not without nostalgia.
*sigh* I regret I couldn't offer more quotes for Fredro, Custine, and Constant, alas I hadn't the full English translations.
