Ashley Bowen - Impact of Bowen's Life and Autobiography

Impact of Bowen's Life and Autobiography

Although Bowen did not become a master of his own ship or have notable seafaring adventures for his time, his historical contribution is important. Because Bowen was the first American sailor to write an autobiography, his account gives historians valuable insight into life as an 18th century sailor. Bowen's autobiography and journal had been an important archival source for scholars and in 1973 it was edited by Phillip Chadwick Foster Smith and published by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. More recently, in 2006, The Autobiography of Ashley Bowen was published by itself by Broadview Editions, edited with an Introduction by Daniel Vickers.

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