Editorial Content for The Last Bookaneer
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Mr. Clover is working on a serving car for the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company. A young man of mixed race trying to scrape by as best he can alone in the big city, he always keeps his eye open for Mr. Fergins, the older man who wheels a book cart onto the train to sell books to travelers. Mr. Fergins always allows Mr. Clover to take a book to enjoy, knowing that the youth has no means to pay. The two become friendly, and after a bizarre experience at the courthouse, Mr. Fergins begins to reveal the mysterious tales of the legendary bookaneers.
The bookaneer was a literary pirate. Prior to the international copyright law of 1891, these brigands would endeavor to seek out the rare and wondrous --- unpublished works from famous authors --- and steal them to turn profit by selling them to willing publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. It was a windfall for the bookaneer and a boon for the publisher of the illicit manuscripts, but provided no monetary gain for the creators of the works.
"A combination intellectual mystery and high-seas adventure, THE LAST BOOKANEER is a masterful blending of fact and fiction that makes for a compelling exploration of betrayals, schemes, greed, and the business of literature in an age when intellectual property was at the mercy of the highest bidder."
Mr. Fergins reveals to Mr. Clover that he had been a go-between, accepting these stolen goods as they passed from bookaneer to client, purchased quietly and with great monetary reward. His first entry into the world of the bookaneers was through Whiskey Bill, but everyone knew that the cream of the crop was Pen Davenport. Mr. Fergins seeks him out, and the two men eventually strike up an awkward working relationship. But when Whiskey Bill contacts the gentlemen to tell them he is dying, they pay him a visit and he delivers to them one last great mission --- to acquire the final work of novelist Robert Louis Stevenson. They would need to hurry, however. Stevenson is in failing health in Samoa, and another bookaneer, Belial, is rumored to be in the hunt as well.
Thus begins a daring and mysterious cat and mouse game between Davenport and Belial as they vie for the favor of Stevenson, hoping to gain enough close friendship to be able to secure the manuscript and return to civilization in time to earn one last fortune. They are also racing against time and the passing of the law that would protect authors from unapproved publication.
Matthew Pearl is a writer who steeps his work in books. His love of books is evident in all of his prior work, and that passion continues to color the entire story in THE LAST BOOKANEER. He writes in a patient manner, not rushing headlong into actions or plots, but rather letting them unfold in steady page-turns reminiscent of the older-style novels he writes.
THE LAST BOOKANEER is told on two fronts. The first is Mr. Clover, who is retelling his story for the reader, but within this retelling is Mr. Fergins telling Mr. Clover the story of his adventures with the bookaneers. And the bookaneers are an interesting bunch. Davenport; his love, Kitten, whose death he is still seeking answers for; Belial; Whiskey Bill --- all of them are colorful characters whose stories weave back and forth across the narrative and across both storylines, and their curious lives and secrets play very heavily in the twists that are to come. Readers of THE LAST DICKENS will also recognize Whiskey Bill and Kitten as the author has carried them over as key components of the story here.
A combination intellectual mystery and high-seas adventure, THE LAST BOOKANEER is a masterful blending of fact and fiction that makes for a compelling exploration of betrayals, schemes, greed, and the business of literature in an age when intellectual property was at the mercy of the highest bidder. It is a charming novel and a satisfying, well-crafted love letter to books and their readers.
Teaser
Pen Davenport is the most infamous bookaneer in Europe. A master of disguise, he makes his living stalking harbors, coffeehouses and print shops for the latest manuscript to steal. For a hundred years, loose copyright laws and a hungry reading public created a unique opportunity: books could be published without an author’s permission. Yet on the eve of the 20th century, the bookaneers are on the verge of extinction, as a new international treaty is signed to grind this literary underground to a sharp halt. THE LAST BOOKANEER tells the astonishing story of these literary thieves’ epic final heist.
Promo
Pen Davenport is the most infamous bookaneer in Europe. A master of disguise, he makes his living stalking harbors, coffeehouses and print shops for the latest manuscript to steal. For a hundred years, loose copyright laws and a hungry reading public created a unique opportunity: books could be published without an author’s permission. Yet on the eve of the 20th century, the bookaneers are on the verge of extinction, as a new international treaty is signed to grind this literary underground to a sharp halt. THE LAST BOOKANEER tells the astonishing story of these literary thieves’ epic final heist.
About the Book
book’a-neer’ (bŏŏk’kå-nēr’), n. a literary pirate; an individual capable of doing all that must be done in the universe of books that publishers, authors and readers must not have a part in
London, 1890 --- Pen Davenport is the most infamous bookaneer in Europe. A master of disguise, he makes his living stalking harbors, coffeehouses and print shops for the latest manuscript to steal. But this golden age of publishing is on the verge of collapse. For a hundred years, loose copyright laws and a hungry reading public created a unique opportunity: books could easily be published without an author’s permission. Authors gained fame but suffered financially --- Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, to name a few --- but publishers reaped enormous profits while readers bought books inexpensively. Yet on the eve of the 20th century, a new international treaty is signed to grind this literary underground to a sharp halt. The bookaneers are on the verge of extinction.
From the author of THE DANTE CLUB, Matthew Pearl, THE LAST BOOKANEER is the astonishing story of these literary thieves’ epic final heist. On the island of Samoa, a dying Robert Louis Stevenson labors over a new novel. The thought of one last book from the great author fires the imaginations of the bookaneers, and soon Davenport sets out for the South Pacific island. As always, Davenport is reluctantly accompanied by his assistant Fergins, who is whisked across the world for one final caper. Fergins soon discovers the supreme thrill of aiding Davenport in his quest to steal Stevenson’s manuscript and make a fortune before the new treaty ends the bookaneers’ trade forever. But Davenport is hardly the only bookaneer with a mind to pirate Stevenson’s last novel. His longtime adversary, the monstrous Belial, appears on the island, and soon Davenport, Fergins, and Belial find themselves embroiled in a conflict larger, perhaps, than literature itself.
In THE LAST BOOKANEER, Pearl crafts a finely wrought tale about a showdown between brilliant men in the last great act of their professions. It is nothing short of a page-turning journey to the heart of a lost era.
