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| Gage's historical account |
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TRAVEL
IN JAMAICA,
exploring the National Library
in Downtown Kingston, in the year 2012
Jamaica, home of Bob Marley and Usain Bolt, is a dream for many American tourists. It is also a nightmare for some of its inhabitants. Far from the north coast, the polluted capital of Kingston is a urban labyrinth, haunted by squalor and loose criminals. A third-world country, Jamaica is focused on immediate matters and can't afford to linger too long on a remote past. An unfriendly ground for old books? Not necessarily. The National Library of Jamaica (JNL) stands, amongst other institutions, as an oasis of hope and knowledge in the heart of downtown Kingston. Located at 12 East King Street it offers a huge selection of newspapers, maps and photographs. It also shelters 47,000 books, most of them contemporary but a few dating from way back. I recently had the privilege to set my eyes upon a handful of them. The fact that I had already seen most of these books somewhere else could never spoil my pleasure. For, tell me—what sounds best? Watching a lion in a zoo, or roaming the wild plains of Africa? Let us learn to know Jamaica by the book(s)...
BOOK
1 : THOMAS GAGE, New Survey of the West Indias: OR, The
English American his Travail by Sea and Land: containing A Journal of
Three Thousand and Three Hundred Miles within the main Land of America.
London, 1655.
Jamaica was discovered by
Christopher Columbus in 1494, during his second travel. He even wrecked his
ships on the north coast during his last travel, spending there almost a full year in
great incertainty. But it was not until 1507 that the son of the Admiral, Diego
Columbus, sent Juan de Esquivel to conquer the island. It then remained a
spanish possession until 1655, when the English captured it. This was a turning
point in the history of Jamaica, partly due to a particular man, Thomas Gage. Indeed,
his book published in 1648 (London) played a crucial part in the conquest—no
wonder the NLJ has at least 6 copies of it. When I held their 1655 copy—the second and the best edition,
according to the writing on the front endpaper—, I fell in love at first sight. The
full leather binding of this small in-4° book is worn all over, the head and
foot caps are both missing and the front hinge is badly rubbed. But the
magnificent golden lettres on the front cover just made it for me : Public Library Jamaica. An endemic copy,
deeply rooted in history.
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| The Map of the Ylandes of the West-Indies bound in Gage's account. |
A Villain in a Religious Suit
Gage book might have a claim to the longest book title ever. Mexico, the City of Angels, Guatemala, Chiapa, Guaxaca, Vera Paz... The title page mentions almost every town Gage visited. It also advertises a New and Exact Discovery of the Spanish Navigation as well as a Grammar (...) of the Indian Tongue… among other things! Gage’s travel, it is true, was remarkable and unique. Moreri’s Dictionary states that Gage was the first non-Spanish witness to give an account from the inside of the Spanish empire in America. Another traveller, Father Labat, wrote: “We can't deny the fact that he gave us some very good insights of Mexico and its surroundings (...). Those who had written about it before had seen nothing but the shores of these countries (...) He described with great accuracy quantitiy of things we hitherto had no knowledge of.” Hence his nickname, the English American. Raised by a catholic family, Gage was 28 when he decided to embark for America as a missionary in 1625. He wished to escape the wrath of his father who reproached him his parting with the Jesuits to join the Dominicans. Hiding himself inside a tub on board of a Spanish ship, Gage eventually reached New Spain (Mexico).
His adventures have little in common with the bold exploits of the conquistadores. Riding a donkey, he preached the Bible to some skeptical natives in the wilderness, visiting some convents that the monks, he wrote, had turned into harems. Moreri states that his book was full of fancy stories about the monks of New Spain and the dictionary of Chaudon (1804) explains that some false facts and unnecessary stylistic devices irritated people of good taste against the author and the book itself. People of good taste were also irritated at his behavior. Indeed, back to England in 1637, he put his whole dignified family to shame through his strange and wonderful conversion to the Anglican Church, as the title page of our edition reads. Gage was an opportunist and, indeed, a traitor. He was ready to do anything to make a name for himself, including sending his former catholic friends to the gallows of Tyburn. An irritated—and catholic—Father Labat described him as a lying tongue, a heart full of ungratefulness, covetousness and wickedness, in a few words a villain in a religious suit.
Gage book might have a claim to the longest book title ever. Mexico, the City of Angels, Guatemala, Chiapa, Guaxaca, Vera Paz... The title page mentions almost every town Gage visited. It also advertises a New and Exact Discovery of the Spanish Navigation as well as a Grammar (...) of the Indian Tongue… among other things! Gage’s travel, it is true, was remarkable and unique. Moreri’s Dictionary states that Gage was the first non-Spanish witness to give an account from the inside of the Spanish empire in America. Another traveller, Father Labat, wrote: “We can't deny the fact that he gave us some very good insights of Mexico and its surroundings (...). Those who had written about it before had seen nothing but the shores of these countries (...) He described with great accuracy quantitiy of things we hitherto had no knowledge of.” Hence his nickname, the English American. Raised by a catholic family, Gage was 28 when he decided to embark for America as a missionary in 1625. He wished to escape the wrath of his father who reproached him his parting with the Jesuits to join the Dominicans. Hiding himself inside a tub on board of a Spanish ship, Gage eventually reached New Spain (Mexico).
His adventures have little in common with the bold exploits of the conquistadores. Riding a donkey, he preached the Bible to some skeptical natives in the wilderness, visiting some convents that the monks, he wrote, had turned into harems. Moreri states that his book was full of fancy stories about the monks of New Spain and the dictionary of Chaudon (1804) explains that some false facts and unnecessary stylistic devices irritated people of good taste against the author and the book itself. People of good taste were also irritated at his behavior. Indeed, back to England in 1637, he put his whole dignified family to shame through his strange and wonderful conversion to the Anglican Church, as the title page of our edition reads. Gage was an opportunist and, indeed, a traitor. He was ready to do anything to make a name for himself, including sending his former catholic friends to the gallows of Tyburn. An irritated—and catholic—Father Labat described him as a lying tongue, a heart full of ungratefulness, covetousness and wickedness, in a few words a villain in a religious suit.
The preface of this worthy
work of this most worthy friend the author was written by Thomas Chaloner, one
of the judges who sent Charles I to death in 1649. A membre of Parliament,
Chaloner was responsible for the publishing of Gage’s book that he intended to
use as a political tool for his master, Oliver Cromwell. After several years of
civil war, Cromwell had become the Protector of the Commonwealth in 1642. Surrounded
by silenced by powerful enemies, Cromwell needed to reinforce his
position through martial conquests. Spain was the best target, in both the old
and the new worlds. That’s where Gage’s book came into the picture. The most
worthy author described the magnificient spanish cities of the New World, their
wealth and their weak defences. The Spaniards, said he, never bothered to
fortify their cities, being too confident in the remotness of their settlements.
In Porto Bello, piles of silver bars were left unattended in the open. It was
enough to excite the imagination of any English—and to justify a sudden
military action against an allied country.
A Traitor
Giving away his former friends
was a way for Gage to prove his loyalty to Cromwell. But his family could not
stand such a disgrace. His brother, then Colonel in Flanders, eventually sent someone
for him. “I almost got killed in Shoe Lane by a Captain of my brother’s
company,” wrote Gage who escaped the plot.
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| The gorgeous opening pages of Gage's account |
Consolation Prize
His book became an instant success. Cromwell required a memoir from him in which the English-American explained why England had the right to pretend to the spanish territories of the New World, exclusively granted to Spain by an old and unjust papal bull. The naval expedition for the West Indies was baptized the Western Design—Thomas Gage was appointed chapelain. The Western Design was bound to fail. Cromwell did not trust his Admiral (William Penn, father of the founder of Penn-sylvania) nor his General (Venables) and adjoined them a board of commissioners who did nothing but to add confusion. The expedition shamefuly failed to capture the island of Hispanola in March 1655. The defeat was humiliating. Fearing the wrath of Cromwell, Penns and Venables then decided to capture the nearby island of Jamaica—as a consolation prize.
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| The golden mark of the NLJ |
The NLJ copy of Gage’s travels
features an anonymous map of the Yslandes
of the West Indies. The figures of Jamaica are quite correct for the time—yet, Thomas Gage had never been to Jamaica. The short passage of his book dedicated
to the island is obviously compiled from other books; at least was he aware of
its existence. But we will never know who suggested to capture the island after the
defeat of Santo Domingo. All we know is that on May the 10th, 1655,
the 38 vessels of the Western Design entered the Caguay Bay (Kingston Bay) to
disembark their 8,000 soldiers. After a short resistance, the Spaniards agreed
to discuss the terms of their surrender. Thomas Gage acted as an interpreter during
the negociations. The Spaniards did their best to distract the English while
evacuating their riches from the main town of Santiago de la Vega (Spanish
Town), arguing that they could not discuss before the end of their religious
ceremonies. Gage retorted that the Lord, surrounded as He was by angels and
merry souls, would excuse them for this time. And when the spanish Governor
objected that Jamaica was the legal possession of his country, our villain answered that only weapons decide of
possession, not laws.
The Western Design was a
failure and a humiliating defeat. Still, Jamaica—that remained an English
possession until its independance in 1962—was to become the richest colony of
the British empire of the 18th century, thanks to sugar—that is to
say, thanks to the slave trade. We do not exactly know what happened to Thomas
Gage during the year he spent on the island. But in July 1656, the Council of
State organized the payement of some debts it had contracted towards him, to
his wife Mary Gage. He must have died a few weeks ago, in Jamaica—from
dysentery. No one knows where he was buried—if he ever was. Nothing remains
in Jamaica to testify of the influence of this villain on the history of the
island... apart from a rubbed book in the National Library.
*** *** ***
Some powerful english families
have lived in the island of Jamaica ever since 1655. I had expected to find
some prestigious coats of arms on some of these books. In vain. The most
interesting things I’ve come accross were some writings in the Gage copy, on
the front end paper: This book belongs
to me, Simpson Bickford, 1655—the very year this second edition came out,
as its author was reaching Jamaica—did the book came aboard a ship of the
Western Design ? Then: William
Bickford, january 2, 1698. There was a very powerful Beckford family at the time in Jamaica—this book might have been
theirs. As I was contemplating this copy for the last time, I came across
another writing—a recent one, reading: valued
12£ - 1944. No matter its poor condition—as you would expect from a
library book—, that would still be a fair price... had these books any
commercial value. But they are not for sale. They are strictly dedicated to the
sharing of knowledge. Their value, because of that, is priceless—it is historical.
This copy might not be a very nice one, it has something no other will ever
have, the Public Library of Jamaica stamp.
Though printed in England, this book is here in its natural environment—it
is simply where it naturally belongs.
In the next episods (jump to PART II), we will
keep on exploring the history of Jamaica through some of the books found on the
shelves of the National Library.
(c) Thibault Ehrengardt
Thanks to the National Library
of Jamaica and the kind assistance of Mrs Winsome Hudson and Mrs Phillips.
THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF JAMAICA
12 East Street, Kingston, Ja.
Telephone: (876) 967-1526
www.nlj.gov.jm
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