CHAMPION OF THE MAIN
First Published in June 1938 - 286 pages
This book was serialised in nine parts in “Modern Boy” magazine from
Issue 15 (dated 28th May 1938) to Issue 23 (dated 23rd
July 1938)
It was also serialised in ten parts as “Champion of the Spanish
Main” in “Ranger” Magazine
from Issue 11 (dated 27th November 1965) to Issue 20 (dated 29th
January 1966)
Above is
the original June 1938 first edition dust jacket – originally priced at 5/-
this example has a sticker over with a lower price of 4/- (presumably because
it has not sold at the higher price) which says “Including Extra War
Costs”! (I have shone a light through
it, so you can see the original price).
Above
is a COPY dust jacket (taken from an original DJ). Note the yellow background on the spine
rather than the white of the first. Is
this the second edition wrapper from later in 1938? I don’t have one so I can’t be sure. If anybody does have an original of this I
would love to see it!
Above
is the original third edition jacket. It
is dated 1938 but I suspect it was published 1939 – originally priced at 3/-
(not 5/-). Note the border around the
main front cover and the placement of the book title at the top rather than
bottom. Johns name has also been removed
from the front cover!
Here we
have the dust jacket for the fourth and last edition – originally priced at
5/- This was the 1949 reprint. (It says inside the book that the first
edition was 1939 but that is a mistake, I believe this may be referring to the
third edition reprint. The first edition
was 1938)
And finally,
we have the dust jacket from the French edition “Aux Mains Des Pirates” which
translates as “In the Hands of Pirates”.
This was published on 30th September 1951. Note how the illustration has been trimmed at
either side as it was for a much thinner book.
Set in
1687, young Mark Lawson, aged 15, waits at Port Royal in Jamaica for the return
of Captain John Champion. Champion, who is the Captain of a ship named the Rose
of England has been out looking for another ship named the Silver Spray.
Champion returns with news that the Silver Spray has been taken by that
notorious pirate, Gabriel Rochelle, known as "the Butcher". Mark's
father, Colonel Lawson, the owner of both ships was aboard the Silver Spray
and Mark grieves for his father's certain death. Champion complains to Mark
about the corruption in Port Royal and says that the Lieutenant Governor, the
Admiralty Judge and Provost-Marshall are all in Rochelle's pay. Mark and
Champion go and publicly confront the three Governing Officials and in the
resulting melee, a sailor is pushed onto Captain Champion's sword. Sentenced to
hang, both Champion and Mark are locked up with another condemned sailor by the
name of Will Greenaway. The following morning, all three are saved from the
gallows by Champion's loyal crew, led by Dan Sullivan, his Irish Quartermaster.
Hoisting a black pirate flag, the Rose of England sails to the Pirate
Island of Tortuga. On the way, they save Lieutenant Markham, a Captain of His
Majesty's ship, Seahawk, from an attack by the pirate Nick Archer, one
of Butcher Rochelle's regular companions. At Tortuga, Mark learns of a plan by
Rochelle to attack the Spanish Main (that being the North Coast of South
America and the Coast of Panama). Champion has a confrontation with Rochelle
but manages to escape. Sailing to a creek by Chagraw River our heroes plan to
attack Rochelle on his return and seize his treasure and in the process capture
him and bring him to justice. Arriving at the creek and taking on board water,
Mark goes exploring. He finds that Rochelle has already arrived and is setting
off up river on a planned attack on Puerto Novo. To his astonishment, Mark sees
his father being forced to row a boat as a slave. Later, Spanish ships arrive
and attack and take the pirates' base. They then send a force of men through
the jungle and after the pirates. Mark returns to the Rose of England
but finds that it has left. He therefore decides to follow the Spanish, alone,
in the hope of saving his father from the pirates. After trekking for days,
Mark catches up with the Spanish and tries to sneak through their camp at night
in a purloined Spanish uniform. He is captured, but well treated by the Spanish.
The following morning Rochelle's pirates attack the Spanish camp and Mark
fights with the Spanish. When they are defeated, Mark is captured and about to
be executed, when Captain Champion arrives and by guile and bluff manages to
obtain Mark's release. Champion has come up only with Mark's servant Pierro and
later an escaped prisoner called Ben joins them. With their help, Mark is able
to rescue his father and they all then travel back to the mouth of the Chagraw
River to get away. Rochelle and his pirates pursue them. Soon another set of
pirates led by Rochelle's son come up from the river and Champion and his men
are caught in-between both groups. Champion uses another clever ruse to set
both groups fighting and our heroes escape back to the sea where the Rose of
England is waiting. Here a shock awaits. The ship has been captured by Nick
Archer and his men, the pirate last seen being sent off to jail to await
hanging after the attack on the Seahawk. A shark kills Ben when he
attempts to escape torture. Will Greenaway is hidden onboard and he is able to
prevent the execution of Champion, Mark, and his father by threatening to set
fire to the powder kegs and blow up the ship. A Spanish ship arrives and
attacks the pirates but this turns out to contain the real crew from the Rose
of England and Rochelle is captured. Two Royal Naval frigates then arrive
and Champion are Mark are arrested and to be hanged on the authority of
warrants issued by the corrupt officials from Port Royal. The new Governor of
the West Indies was a prisoner of the pirates and he is able to confirm what
really happened and that Champion is no pirate. A trap is then set to obtain
confessions from the corrupt officials of Port Royal. Rochelle is hanged and
the corrupt officials whose guilt is revealed, in due course follow him to the
gallows.
CLICK
HERE TO SEE ALL THE INTERNAL ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THIS BOOK
Champion of the Main
Subtitle - none
Publication Details - originally published by Oxford University
Press
Above are the spines of all FOUR editions. The first edition with the row boat on the
spine is approximately 54 mm wide. It
was later reprinted slightly thinner at approximately 48 mm wide.
The third edition has a different design to the spine and boards
and is approximately 42 mm wide. The
fourth and final edition has a plain spine and boards and is approximately 30
mm wide.
You can tell if you have the second edition as the second edition
(and third edition) has a small asterix in the bottom right-hand corner of the
title page (the first page saying “Champion of the Main”).
Frontispiece of first edition
Click on the Frontispiece to enlarge it
Map of the Spanish Main on the front (and end boards) of the
first edition of the book
Click on the Map to enlarge it