Alexander Selkirk, born in 1676 in Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland, was the unruly seventh son of a cobbler. In 1703, having grown tired of life in his village, he was able to convince successful buccaneer William Dampier that he was the man to navigate Dampier’s next privateering expedition to South America. After a dispute with the young captain of the ship on which he served as sailing master, Selkirk was left behind on a small island 418 miles west of Valparaiso, Chile. Rescued four years later, he was the subject of several contemporary accounts of his ordeal, and likely served as one of Daniel Defoe's primary inspirations for Robinson Crusoe.
posted by killdevil on Apr 25, 2006 - 10 comments

J.M. Coetzee's Nobel Speech. It seemed to him, coming from his island, where until Friday arrived he lived a silent life, that there was too much speech in the world. Coetzee, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, delivers his lecture from the perspective of Robinson Crusoe.
posted by _sirmissalot_ on Dec 9, 2003 - 8 comments

The Book of the Courtier - Baldessar Castiglione (Sir Thomas Hoby tr.), An Essay on the Regulation of the Press - Daniel Defoe, The Schoole of Abuse - Stephen Gosson, Merrie Conceited Jests - George Peel and The Praise of Hemp-Seed - John Taylor, a sample selection submitted for your approval from Renasence Editions, An Online Repository of Works Printed in English Between the Years 1477 and 1799.
posted by y2karl on Nov 26, 2003 - 7 comments