A General History of the Pyrates, from their first Rise and Settlement in the Island of Providence to the Present Time. With the Remarkable Actions and Adventures of the Two Female Pyrates, Mary Read and Anne Bonny contained in the following chapters, Capt. Avery, Capt. Martel, Capt. Bonnet, Capt. Davis, Capt. Roberts, Captains: Anstis, Worley, Lowther, Low, Evans, Phillips, Spriggs, Smith. [Vol. 2] Captains:Mission, Bowen, Kidd, Tew, Halsey, White, Condent, Bellamy, Fly, Howard, Lewis, Cornelius, Williams, Burgess, North, and their several Crews, intermix'd with a Description of Magadoxa. To which is added a Short Abstract of the Statute Civil Law in Relation to Pyracy.

THE VERY RARE FIRST EDITION OF A WORK THAT DID MUCH TO POPULARISE THE MYTHOLOGY OF PIRATES SAILING UNDER THE JOLLY ROGER—EYE PATCHES, WOODEN LEGS AND BURIED TREASURE.

2 Vols., Fourth Edition of Vol. 1; FIRST EDITION of vol. 2, 1 [blank], 10 ff., 17-447, 1 [blank], 7. Ff., 413, 3.pp., 2 folding maps and 3 engraved plates, contemporary panelled calf, rebacked with gilt spines and contrasting Morocco labels in compartments, 8vo (200 x 130mm), London printed and sold by T.Woodward, 1726. A fine copy.

The very rare first complete and enlarged edition, containing the lives of upwards of 30 pirates, including all the most famous characters and their crews up to that time including 3 engraved illustrations of Blackbeard (Edward Teach), Bartholomew Roberts, Ann Bonny and Mary Read.

A General History introduced many features which later became common in pirate literature, such as pirates with missing legs or eyes, the notion of pirates burying treasure, and the name of the pirate flag the Jolly Roger. The author specifically cites two pirates as having named their flag Jolly Roger (named after the first Pirate and his crew): Welsh pirate Bartholomew Roberts in June 1721, and English pirate Francis Spriggs in December 1723 The book gives an almost mythical status to the more colourful characters, such as the infamous English pirates Blackbeard and Calico Jack. It provides the standard account of the lives of many people still famous in the 21st century and has influenced pirate literature of Scottish novelists Robert Louis Stevenson and J. M. Barrie.

The book was released in two volumes. The first mostly deals with early 18th-century pirates, while Volume II records the exploits of their predecessors a few decades earlier. In the first volume, the author sticks fairly close to the available sources and is concerned mainly with the Pirates of the South Seas. The second volume covers the coasts of Africa, Asia and particularly Madagascar.

The book has been hugely influential in shaping popular notions of piracy.