Captain Charles Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Pen name | CaptainCharles Johnson |
| Years active | 1724–1736[1] |
| Notable works | A General History of the Pyrates |
Captain Charles Johnson was the British author of the 1724 bookA General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates, whose identity remains a mystery. No record exists of a captain by this name, and "Captain Charles Johnson" is generally considered apen name for one of London's writer-publishers. Some scholars have suggested that the author was actuallyDaniel Defoe, but this is disputed.
A prime source for the biographies of many well knownpirates of the era,[2] Johnson gave an almost mythical status to the more colourful characters, and it is likely that the author used considerableartistic licence in his accounts of pirate conversations.[3] First appearing inCharles Rivington's shop in London, the book sold so well that by 1726, an enlarged fourth edition had appeared.[3] English naval historianDavid Cordingly writes: "It has been said, and there seems no reason to question this, that Captain Johnson created the modern conception of pirates."[4]
Johnson's identity is unknown, but he demonstrates a knowledge of the sailor's speech and life, suggesting that he could have been an actual sea captain. He could also have been a professional writer using a pseudonym who was well versed in the sea. If this is true, the name may have been chosen to reflect playwrightCharles Johnson, who had a play calledThe Successful Pyrate performed in 1712. The play addressed the career ofHenry Every, and it had been something of a scandal for seeming to praise a criminal.[5] Following the book, many biographies and catalogs of criminals were published, including catalogs ofhighwaymen andprostitutes. This theory suggests that the "Charles Johnson" of the pirate catalog was merely taking part in a burgeoning industry in criminal biography.
The author has remained unknown in spite of numerous attempts by historians to discover his identity. There has been no record found of anyone with the name Charles Johnson serving as a captain in any capacity, save forty-two years before the publication ofA General History. Some have suggested that the "Captain" was in fact a common pirate, but again, there is no record of this man.[6]: 129
In 1932, literary scholar and writerJohn Robert Moore posited thatDaniel Defoe be acknowledged the author ofA General History.[6][7] After years of research in connection with a collection of Defoe's works, Moore published a study of his findings, detailing his argument for Defoe's authorship of this, and other works. Moore declared thatA General History was "substantially" a work of Defoe based on writing style (including frequent meditations on morality similar to in Defoe's work[7]) and content similar to other pieces that have been attributed to Defoe. Moore argued that Defoe's interest in subjects such as "seafaring" and criminals (including pirates[7]) shows thatA General History falls squarely into his repertoire. Moore posited that not only could other works be used to confirm that Defoe wroteA General History, but thatA General History could be used to endorse his authorship of those same works. Another point that Moore counted on to validate his claims was that many authors, to include historians, had usedA General History of the Pyrates as a source of information for their own writings.[6]: 126–141
Moore's study and his reputation as a Defoe scholar was so convincing that most libraries recatalogedA General History under Defoe's name.[8]
However, in 1988, scholarsP. N. Furbank and W. R. Owens attacked the theory inThe Canonisation of Daniel Defoe, in which they point out that there is no documentary evidence linking Johnson to Defoe, and that there are discrepancies betweenA General History and Defoe's known works.[8]
Disputes between different Defoe biographers called his body of work into question. Based on the accounts of these many biographers, Defoe's attributed canon went from 101 different works to 570 between the years of 1790 and 1970. Most of these additions were made on the basis of internal, "stylistic" evidence. Moore's publication of his Checklist of the Writings of Daniel Defoe added almost 200 works alone. Many questioned not only his attribution ofA General History to Defoe, but the general trend of biographers to continually add to the canon. One critic even suggested, based on this trend, that all anonymous works from the early eighteenth century be designated Defoe's.[9]: 2–4, 102–108
Furbank and Owens' arguments against Defoe's authorship ofA General History address the parallels that are drawn to other works of the time (often also attributed to Defoe) and the logical fallacies that are necessary to subscribe to such a large, diverse catalog. Many of the ideas and phrases that Moore points to as parallels, and therefore as proof of Defoe's continuity in his works, were commonplace in the eighteenth century. According to Furbank and Owens, Moore's attribution ofA General History to Defoe was based on no external evidence and only those few circumstantial parallels.[9]: 2–4, 102–108 They also cite inconsistencies in the accounts ofHenry Every andJohn Gow.[10]
AuthorColin Woodard, inThe Republic of Pirates, considers attribution of Johnson's work to Defoe to be erroneous.[11]
The author could have been publisherNathaniel Mist (or somebody working for him).[12] Woodard considers Mist "far more likely" than Defoe, citing Bialuschewski's 2004 paperDaniel Defoe, Nathaniel Mist, and the "General History of the Pyrates".[13] Specifically, Woodard's reasoning includes that Mist was a former sailor familiar with theWest Indies, that he was a journalist and a publisher who lived near to and had a working relationship withCharles Rivington (the first publisher of record ofA General History), that Mist was the man in whose name the book was registered atHer Majesty's Stationery Office, and Mist'sJacobitism (which perhaps gave him reason to write somewhat sympathetically about some of the pirates, as inA General History).[11]
The original publisherCharles Rivington[3] emphasized the fact that the catalogue included stories of "the remarkable ACTIONS and ADVENTURES of the two Female Pyrates,Mary Read andAnne Bonny"[14] A second edition came out within a few months, vastly enlarged and most likely assembled from writings by other authors.German andDutch translations were published in 1725.[14] These German- and Dutch-language versions greatly played up the salaciousness of the accounts of "Amazon" pirates.
AGeneral History of the Pyrates continues to be reprinted in many different editions, often with additional commentary, sometimes published under Charles Johnson's name and sometimes under Daniel Defoe's name. Nova Scotian author William Gilkerson published the children's novelPirates Passage (Trumpeter Books, 2006) which was inspired by the life and work of Charles Johnson, reissued asThe Brotherhood of Pirates.
Works by or aboutCaptain Charles Johnson atWikisource
