Edward Coxere

Edward Coxere (1633–1694) was a Kentish merchant seaman, linguist, Quaker convert and autobiographer.

Autobiography

His manuscript autobiography surfaced in 1943 and was edited by E. H. W. Meyerstein and published by Oxford University Press in 1945 as Adventures by Sea.^[1] The small-format book has a map of Europe and North Africa as its end-papers. The text has 19 pages of prelims and 110 pages of text and 22 pages of notes, together with a sourced genealogical table. There are seven illustrations derived from the original manuscript.

Picaresque style of writing

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article characterises Coxere's autobiography thus: "His picaresque narrative, written in or after 1685, is one of the most vivid accounts of seafaring life, revealing an intelligent, brave and quick-witted man, hardened by danger and adversity but retaining both humour and humanity.".^[2]

Imprisonment in Dover Castle

After his conversion to the Quaker faith, he suffered several terms of imprisonment, including a long period in Dover Castle.

Pronanciation of his name

It is likely that his surname was pronounced "Coxery".

References

^ Adventures by Sea edited by E. H. W. Meyerstein, Published at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1945. 19 x 13 cm.
^ ODNB article by Bernard Capp, ‘Coxere, Edward (bap. 1633, d. 1694)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 4 July 2011