Jamaica in 1687: The Taylor Manuscript at the National Library of Jamaica

This remarkable description of Jamaica in the late 1680s was written by a contemporary English observer, John Taylor, who spent some months on the island. The original manuscript is held by the National Library of Jamaica, and has rarely been used by scholars. It contains information about Jamaica under the Spaniards, about the English invasion of 1655 and about the formation of the subsequent society, as well as the treatment of slaves. There are sections on the island's settlement and architecture, including a particularly full description of Port Royal. Taylor also sets out fifty contemporary laws, many of them now unknown.

His rich details of the local flora and fauna include suggestions about the medicinal use of natural products and descriptions of some creatures now extinct in Jamaica. Although Taylor offers an image of the island before widespread sugar cultivation, the features will be entirely familiar to modern Jamaicans.

David Buisseret's meticulous work on this manuscript has taken nearly thirty years, and his annotations guide the reader through this extract of Taylor's original three-volume manuscript.

This text will be useful to generations of scholars and students alike, and to anyone with an interest in Jamaica and its colourful history.