If you've ever wanted to know how close the Old Bailey is to Fleet Ditch and what other landmarks are nearby (Section C4), then this site will interest you. It's a little early for POTC, but I imagine things didn't change *too* much. Nice to add a bit of local flavor to any stories set in London, anyway!

Browse the collection for photos of:

Astronomical and navigational instruments
- Astrolabes and quadrants - Globes - Sundials - Telescopes
Charts and maps
Coins and medals
- Coins - Commemorative medals - Orders and medals
Decorative art
- Ceramics - Jewellery - Objet d'Art - Plate - Sailors' craftwork
Fine art - Oil paintings - Prints, ( Read more... )

I need some help from those in the nautical know ( Read more... )

I tend to think in terms of Atlantic and Pacific when I think of oceans, but these names had not solidified in the 18th century.

This article, Naming the Pacific, gives a thorough history of the names that were used for the oceans and the surrounding landmasses (and theoretical landmasses ( Read more... )

I had such fun writing Tall Ship Tales, and people seem to appreciate the background that went into it. A lot of my "research" was just googling around, but here are some actual books that I actually read. I recommend them all, especially the first and the last.

Book details...

Can anyone help me with this?  I'm trying to write some Jack backstory and I need places in South America where a British ship (non navy) could plausibly put in.  I looks to me as though everywhere is either Spanish or Portuguese (or uncolonised), but I'm guessing the more commercial ports wouldn't be hostile to merchant ships of other ( Read more... )

From Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea -

( On Port Royal )

So in general, this is a fun site: Pirates of the Caribbean, in Fact and Fiction. What caught my eye, though, was its section on Port Royal. Tavern names! It gives Port Royal tavern names! All before the 1692 earthquake, of course, so most of them were probably destroyed by the time any fic would be set. Still!

( Here they are )

I'm fascinated by what might have happened to Norrington as a consequence of letting Jack walk away. Courts-martial do indeed pop up occasionally in POTC fic, so I thought I'd share with you a resource I've been using for what I'm writing. It's a book published in 1851, but given how conservative the Navy seems to have been (in my limited reading ( Read more... )

I'm sure full historical accuracy goes against canon for PotC ;)   But I'm signing up anyway because accurate historical detail is one of my favourite things, even if all I do is take liberties with it.
The Salacious Historian's Lair is a wonderful site with Pirate resources coming out of its ears.  If you want to know the price of a cask of good ( Read more... )