Bibliography of Courland Colonial History: 17th-18th century

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster.

COURLAND EMPIRE

– Anderson, Edgars “Senie kurzemnieki Amerika un Tobago kolonizacija” 370 pp. illus., maps Daugava, 1970, Stockholm, Sweden. Based entirely on original sources scattered throughout Latvian, Dutch, British, French, Spanish, Danish, Russian, and Swedish archives; the book examines half a century during which the Duchy of Courland (now a part of Latvia) colonized Tobago and tried to establish more colonies in the Caribbean. Gambia in Africa was also a part of the Courlandian empire. The Tobago colony flourished during the 1630s-1680s and was gradually abandoned, when Courland fell into a precarious situation among Sweden, Poland and Russia, becoming a battlefield for neighboring countries. Covers an extremely complicated period of Caribbean history. A painstaking and most valuable study.

– Archibald, D. “Tobago: melancholy isle, vol. I 1498-1771” 137 pp. Westindiana, 1987, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. Chapter I, The Caribs of the Island of Tabaco; Chapter II, the European Presence 1498-1627; Chapter III, Early Settlements 1628-1637; Chapter IV, The Courland Adventure 1639-1690; Chapter V, the Dutch at Roodklyp Bay 1654-1678; Chapter VI, Captain John Poyntz 1666-1704; Chapter VII, A neutral Island 1679-1763; Chapter VIII, the British settle Tobago 1763-1771.

– Carmichael, Gertrude “The history of the West Indian Island of Trinidad and Tobago, 1498-1900” 463 pp. 8 plts. 1961, London, UK.

– Dietrich, H. “Herzog Jacobs von Kurland Kolonien an der Westküste von Afrika” 1890, Mitau,

– Mattiansen, O.H. “Die Kolonial- und Überseepolitik der kurländischen Herzöge im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, Schriftenreihe der Stadt der Auslandsdeutschen, n°6, 1940, Stuttgart.

POLAND:

– Orizio, Riccardo “Tribù bianche perdute: viaggio tra i dimenticati” xv+281 pp. Editori Laterza, 2000, Bari, Italia. English edition: “Lost White tribes: Journeys among the Forgotten” 281 pp. Secker & Warburg, 2000 Indice: Sri Lanka: quattro secoli di nostalgia olandese; Giamaica: gli schiavi tedeschi di Seaford Town; Brasile: via con il vento degli ultimi sudisti; Haiti: i polacchi di Papà Doc; Namibia: la Terra Promessa dei Basters; Guadalupa: i duchi della canna da zucchero. The author investigates: the Dutch Burghers of Sri Lanka; the Germans of Seaford Town (Jamaica); the Confederados of Brazil; the Poles of Haiti; the Basters of Namibia; the Blancs Matignon of Guadeloupe.

– Pachonski, Jan “Poland`s Caribbean tragedy. A study of Polish legions in the Haitian war of independence” Columbia University Press, 1986, NY, USA.

– St. Juste, Laurore “Présence Polonaise en Haiti” 57 pp. 1983