The Isle Of Pines (1668) and An Essay in Bibliography by Worthington Chauncey Ford

The work opens with a startling claim: a handful of English sailors, shipwrecked off the coast of a far‑southern continent during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, survived on a remote isle called the Isle of Pines. Their lone survivor allegedly left a detailed report, describing a community of thousands, including a woman of African descent, and the narrative was later revived by a Dutch vessel in 1667. The book follows this curious testimony, placing it against the backdrop of 17th‑century colonial ambitions and the feverish appetite for exotic discoveries.

In parallel, the author reconstructs the heated rivalry between two early American printers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, whose competition and the era’s strict licensing regime shaped the way such stories could be circulated. Through careful bibliographic sleuthing, the text reveals how the Isle of Pines tale was likely fabricated, a product of both personal ambition and the chaotic world of early colonial publishing. Listeners will be drawn into a blend of maritime legend and the messy reality of early printing politics.