This volume contains 25 (of 26) issues of the Niles' Weekly Register from September 1817 to March 1818 along with title page and index. Of particular interest is the issue of December 27, 1817 which contains a series of letters from Beverly Chew, Customs Collector of New Orleans, providing extensive details of the operation of a pirate base at “Galvezton,” initially by Commodore Aury and later the Lafitte brothers. At the time, prior to the Adams-Onis Treaty (1819), the U.S. claimed Galveston as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Aury set up a form of government to legitimize his privateering, and when Aury vacated the “island or sand bar,” Lafitte assumed control and expanded the scale of the piracy. Aury subsequently seized Amelia Island following McGregor’s departure. Both occupations of Amelia Island are documented in other issues in this volume. Hardbound in quarter leather with tips over marbled boards.

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Condition: B

Text has light toning and scattered foxing throughout. Front cover and first 48-page section of text (3 issues) have detached from the bound volume. Ex-library (Harvard) with a deaccession note signed by the librarian on the front pastedown. Binding is heavily worn.