In 1680, English pirate Bartholomew Sharpe and 300 men crossed the Central American isthmus at Panama, captured a Spanish ship, the Trinity, and used it to raid Spanish vessels up and down the Pacific coast of Central and South America. Their exploits became famous, in large part because they were a remarkably literate band of buccaneers: Five of the men, including Sharpe, kept detailed journals. (See also: Blackbeard Relics, Gold Found.)

From these accounts, we know that one of the most valuable treasures they seized was not gold or silver, but an atlas of Spanish sailing charts. Sharpe later commissioned a colorfully illustrated English copy of the stolen atlas and presented it to the king of England—a gift that likely