Character of the author
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 playwright Charles Johnson, who had a play called '' The Successful Pyrate'' performed in 1712. The play addressed the career of Henry Every, and it had been something of a scandal for seeming to praise a criminal. Following the book, many biographies and catalogs of criminals were published, including catalogs ofIdentity of author
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 of ''A General History''. There was a playwright by that name in the early 18th century, but there are no ties to piracy found in his works. Some have suggested that the "Captain" was in fact a common pirate, but again, there is no record of this man.John Robert Moore ''Defoe in the Pillory, and Other Studies'' (New York: Octagon Books, 1973).Daniel Defoe
In 1932, literary scholar and writer John Robert Moore posited that Daniel Defoe be acknowledged the author of ''A General History''. 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 that ''A General History'' was "substantially" a work of Defoe based on writing style (including frequent meditations on morality similar to in Defoe's work) 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) shows that ''A General History'' falls squarely into his repertoire. Moore posited that not only could other works be used to confirm that Defoe wrote ''A General History'', but that ''A 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 used ''A General History of the Pyrates'' as a source of information for their own writings. Moore's study and his reputation as a Defoe scholar was so convincing that most libraries recataloged ''A General History'' under Defoe's name.Criticism
However, in 1988, scholars P. N. Furbank and W. R. Owens attacked the theory in ''The Canonisation of Daniel Defoe'', in which they point out that there is no documentary evidence linking Johnson to Defoe, and that there are discrepancies between ''A General History'' and Defoe's known works. 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 of ''A 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.Philip Nicholas Furbank and W. R. Owens, ''The Canonisation of Daniel Defoe'' (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988). Furbank and Owens' arguments against Defoe's authorship of ''A 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 of ''A General History'' to Defoe was based on no external evidence and only those few circumstantial parallels. They also cite inconsistencies in the accounts of Henry Every and John Gow. Author Colin Woodard, in ''The Republic of Pirates'', considers attribution of Johnson's work to Defoe to be erroneous.Nathaniel Mist
The author could have been publisherContents of the different editions
The original publisher Charles Rivington''A general history of the robberies & murders of the most notorious pirates''. By Charles JohnsonModern editions and related works
A ''General 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 novel ''Pirates Passage'' (Trumpeter Books, 2006) which was inspired by the life and work of Charles Johnson, reissued as ''The Brotherhood of Pirates''.Notes
References
* * *Further reading
*Charles Johnson (1724), ''A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates''External links
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Charles British biographers 18th-century British writers Piracy Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Daniel Defoe 18th-century pseudonymous writers