Book of Pirates, Howard Pyle
Book of Pirates, Howard Pyle
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Book of Pirates

Author: Howard Pyle

Narrator: Ralph Cosham

Unabridged: 8 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/01/2002


Synopsis

Rip-roaring fictional adventures of swashbuckling pirates and buccaneers of the Spanish Main, The Ghost of Captain Brand, Tom Chist and the Treasure Box, Jack Ballister's Fortunes, The Ruby of Kishmoor, and other tales.

About Howard Pyle

Howard Pyle was born in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1853. A Quaker, he attended the Friends' School in Wilmington. But he spent much of his time there "scrawling drawings on his slate and in his books." Realizing their son's lack of interest in studying, the Pyles gave up on the idea of sending Howard to college and instead encouraged him to study art. At sixteen, he began three years of daily commutes to Philadelphia in order to study under the Belgian artist Van der Weilen. These classes would be the only systematic training in art that Pyle would receive, but they provided a solid foundation in the technique of drawing.

After three years of study, he set up a studio in Wilmington and helped his father in his leather business while beginning his fledgling career as an illustrator. His earliest work was published in Scribner's Monthly in 1876. He moved to New York, where he was associated to some extent with the Art Students' League of New York City. His early illustrations, short stories, and poems appeared in the leading New York periodicals between 1876 and 1879. He was, in fact, a well-known artist and writer for Harpers Weekly.

In 1910, Pyle relocated his family to Florence, Italy, where he hoped to study and pursue the painting of murals. In November 1911, he suddenly became ill and died of a kidney infection at the age of fifty-eight.

During his lifetime, Pyle wrote and illustrated the following works: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Nottinghamshire; Within the Capes; Pepper and Salt, or Seasoning for Young Folk; The Rose of Paradise; The Wonder Clock or Four and Twenty Marvelous Tales; Otto of the Silver Hand; A Modern Aladdin; Men of Iron, a Romance of Chivalry; Jack Ballister's Fortune; Twilight Land; and The Garden Behind the Moon.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Heather on September 13, 2020

This collection of popular pirate stories, which mostly centre around brave non-pirates who crossed paths with an infamous pirate and lived to tell the tale, were refreshing to read. However, they are very romanticised stories focusing on the more adventurous side of piracy than the true aspect of i......more

Goodreads review by Anya on May 22, 2020

What really stood out were the absolutely stunning and beautiful illustrations throughout the book. Looking at them you could smell the rum, fish and cannon powder and hear the ocean and gun shots. If you liked Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, then you will enjoy this book. It's not written......more

Goodreads review by Emily on May 17, 2022

This was a fun listen!......more

Goodreads review by LonelyBanshee on June 07, 2021

I think Pyle envisioned this as a "Come for the pictures, stay for the prose" book. The best part is the nonfictional history of the 1600s buccaneers, but even then, the prose retains the pompous tone and the pro-colonial values (read: Imperial worshiping, puritanical, racist as fuck, and the same t......more

Goodreads review by Elwin on June 08, 2020

The greatest strength of this book is its fantastic and incredibly well written introduction, followed by great high-seas adventure full of pirate history and not Disney fantasy. Historical stories of well known pirates such as Captain Henry Morgan, Captain Edward Teach, aka the infamous Black Beard,......more