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Keywords: Rare pirate book, antique piracy history, Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, buccaneers, sea rovers, maritime adventure, illustrated 19th-century book, nautical collectible, Jean Lafitte, corsairs, mutiny, shipwreck, treasure, historical pirates, antique hardcover
PIRATES. With a Foreword and sundry Decorations by C. Lovat Fraser. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Published in 1922 by Robert M. McBride Co., New York. 8.5” x 6” hardcover, paper on boards. Illustrated with engravings, some on heavy stock colored paper. 159 pages.
Condition: GOOD ANTIQUE CONDITION. Exterior has light wear and toning but looks great overall. Front inner hinge cracked, otherwise solid. Text block secure and firm. Pages are clean and complete, some age-toning. No torn, loose or missing pages. Seems to be the only complete example of this book available anywhere on the planet. A very nice example of this rare early 20th-century pirate history.
Description:
C. Lovat Fraser’s PIRATES sails straight into the imagination with the swagger of a brigantine cutting through open seas. This handsome book with its bold, stark graphics feels like a treasure chest packed with vivid scenes, bold characters, and the irresistible romance of the pirate age. Fraser, known for his striking visual style, brings the same theatrical flair to his storytelling, crafting a world where danger and delight share the same deck.
Much of PIRATES’ charm comes from the gallery of notorious sea‑rovers who parade across its pages. Fraser doesn’t merely list their deeds; he stages them like characters in a lively drama.
CAPTAIN KIDD appears not as a cardboard villain but as a man caught between ambition and infamy, a figure whose legend has grown far beyond the facts.
BLACKBEARD storms into the narrative with all the menace one expects — a towering presence wreathed in smoke and superstition — yet Fraser also hints at the calculated showmanship behind the terror.
Then there is BARTHOLOMEW ROBERTS, the “dandy pirate,” whose flair for discipline and elegance makes him one of the sea’s most paradoxical figures. Each portrait is brisk, colorful, and tinged with the author’s fascination for the theatricality of piracy.
Fraser also gives space to lesser‑known but equally compelling characters. Figures like STEDE BONNET, the gentleman‑turned‑buccaneer, and others, are treated with a mixture of amusement and sympathy, their misadventures illustrating how the pirate world lured in not only hardened criminals but dreamers, eccentrics, and the occasional fool. These sketches enrich the book’s atmosphere, offering readers a sense of the strange, unruly fraternity that once ruled the sea-lanes.
The narrative as a whole unfolds as a lively tour through the pirate mythos — not a dry historical account, but a spirited evocation of the men who haunted the oceans and the legends that grew in their wake. Fraser revels in the flags, the codes, the rituals, and the sheer theatricality of piracy, while never losing sight of the human impulses beneath the spectacle. The result is a narrative that feels both playful and atmospheric, a celebration of the pirate as a cultural icon as much as a historical figure.
Accompanied by Fraser’s distinctive and striking illustrations, PIRATES becomes more than a book; it’s an experience. The art amplifies the text’s energy, turning each page into a stage where the Golden Age of Piracy performs once more. For readers who crave adventure, visual flair, or a nostalgic plunge into seafaring lore, PIRATES remains a small but gleaming gem — a perfect companion for anyone who still feels the pull of the horizon.
Contents Are:
I. The Life of Captain Avery
II. Captain John Rackham, and his Crew
III. Captain Spriggs, and his Crew
IV. Captain Edward Lowe, and his Crew
V. Captain George Lowther, and his Crew
VI. Captain Anstis, and his Crew
VII. Captain John Phillips, and his Crew
VIII. Captain Teach, alias Blackbeard
IX. Captain Stede Bonnet, and his Crew
X. Captain William Kidd
XI. Captain Edward England, and his Crew
XII. Captain John Gow, alias Smith, and his Crew
My pet rock not included.)
Remember folks, this is a 1922 FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. This book is 104 years old.
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