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Bruce Trinque has compiled a day by day listing of events that can be dated in the [[Aubrey-Maturin series]]. With some additional comment from the other Gunroom members, the list is presented below.
Bruce Trinque has compiled a day by day listing of events that can be dated in the [[Aubrey-Maturin series]]. With some additional comment from the other Gunroom members, the list is presented below.
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===Notes on the methodology=== 
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The dates shown  below relating to [[Patrick O'Brian]]'s Aubrey-Maturin novels are derived, when  possible, directly from the books themselves.  However, O'Brian was often extremely  vague about the specific timing of events, and so in many cases I have resorted  to the dates of the actual historical occurrences used as source material for O'Brian's fiction (usually designated by an '''AHE''' after the entry). I have tried to stick with either those  specific bits of time data supplied by O'Brian in the novels or with the actual  historical record, rather than resort to simple speculation or educated  guesses. 
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Of course, O'Brian  sometimes thoroughly divorced his fictional events from the timing of their  historical antecedents, and in those cases I generally have chosen not to report those dates.  For at least one sequence of events, O'Brian presented more than one time (e.g difficulties arriving from an encounter with an iceberg following the encounter with the ''[[Waakzaamheid]]'' are assigned to December, 1811, in [[Desolation Island (novel)|Desolation Island]] but the  flight from the Dutch ship is altered to March, 1812, in ''[[The Fortune of War]]''.
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Perhaps the greatest challenge to establishing dates for Canonical events is presented by the sequence of ten  novels beginning with ''[[The Ionian Mission]]'' and continuing through ''[[The  Commodore (novel)|The  Commodore]]''.  In ''[[The Surgeon's  Mate]]'', events can be directly related to the historical record (they quite  clearly belong to the summer and autumn of 1813, as proven by ''HMS Shannon's''  capture of ''USS Chesapeake'' at the  conclusion of ''The Fortune of War''). Events towards the end of ''[[The Yellow Admiral]]'' can be confidently  dated to late 1813, as shown by the
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subsequent abdication of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1814.  But the lengthy plots of ''The Ionian Mission'', ''[[Treason’s Harbour]]'', ''[[The Far Side of the World]]'', ''[[The  Reverse of the Medal]]'', ''[[The Letter of Marque (novel)|The Letter of Marque]]'', ''[[Thirteen-Gun Salute]]'', ''[[The Nutmeg of  Consolation (novel)]]'', ''[[Clarissa Oakes (novel)|The Truelove/Clarissa Oakes]]'', ''[[The Wine-Dark Sea]]'', and ''The Commodore'' have to be assigned to an extraordinarily long hypothetical
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Year of 1813  (designated hereafter as **1813**).  Page references are given relative to the standard WW Norton hardcover editions.

Revision as of 22:38, 13 June 2008

Bruce Trinque has compiled a day by day listing of events that can be dated in the Aubrey-Maturin series. With some additional comment from the other Gunroom members, the list is presented below.

Notes on the methodology

The dates shown below relating to Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels are derived, when possible, directly from the books themselves. However, O'Brian was often extremely vague about the specific timing of events, and so in many cases I have resorted to the dates of the actual historical occurrences used as source material for O'Brian's fiction (usually designated by an AHE after the entry). I have tried to stick with either those specific bits of time data supplied by O'Brian in the novels or with the actual historical record, rather than resort to simple speculation or educated guesses.

Of course, O'Brian sometimes thoroughly divorced his fictional events from the timing of their historical antecedents, and in those cases I generally have chosen not to report those dates. For at least one sequence of events, O'Brian presented more than one time (e.g difficulties arriving from an encounter with an iceberg following the encounter with the Waakzaamheid are assigned to December, 1811, in Desolation Island but the flight from the Dutch ship is altered to March, 1812, in The Fortune of War.

Perhaps the greatest challenge to establishing dates for Canonical events is presented by the sequence of ten novels beginning with The Ionian Mission and continuing through The Commodore. In The Surgeon's Mate, events can be directly related to the historical record (they quite clearly belong to the summer and autumn of 1813, as proven by HMS Shannon's capture of USS Chesapeake at the conclusion of The Fortune of War). Events towards the end of The Yellow Admiral can be confidently dated to late 1813, as shown by the subsequent abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814. But the lengthy plots of The Ionian Mission, Treason’s Harbour, The Far Side of the World, The Reverse of the Medal, The Letter of Marque, Thirteen-Gun Salute, The Nutmeg of Consolation (novel), The Truelove/Clarissa Oakes, The Wine-Dark Sea, and The Commodore have to be assigned to an extraordinarily long hypothetical Year of 1813 (designated hereafter as **1813**). Page references are given relative to the standard WW Norton hardcover editions.


Each month linked below has a day by day listing of the events that can be known or believed to have occurred in that month.

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