Mary Read
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Mary Read, fictionally known as Mark Read, was an English pirate about whom there is very little factual documentation. She and Anne Bonny were two famous female pirates from the 18th century, and among the few women known to have been convicted of piracy at the height of the "Golden Age of Piracy".
An 1842 sketch of Read (right) killing a pirate
A contemporary engraving of Mary Read
A contemporary engraving of Anne Bonney
Mary Read, The Duel, from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series (N19) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP835033
Golden Age of Piracy
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The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
A 1920 painting of Blackbeard's final battle against Robert Maynard in 1718
Amaro Pargo, a Spaniard who was one of the most famous corsairs of the Golden Age of Piracy
Henry Every is shown selling his loot in this engraving by Howard Pyle. Every's capture of the Grand Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai in 1695 stands as one of the most profitable pirate raids ever perpetrated.
Cornelis Hendricksz Vroom, Spanish Men-of-War Engaging Barbary Corsairs, 1615.