-Providence Displayed: or, The Remarkable Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, of Largo, in Scotland

With the stated purpose of separating fact from fiction regarding sailors surviving stranded on islands, James seeks to write the memoirs of Alexander Selkirk. Published over eighty years after Robinson Crusoe, James notes that similar types of stories have become immensely popular and that Crusoe undoubtedly pays homage to Selkirk’s real experiences.

“It has become a common Practice in the present Day to write Novels founded on Facts, with which Narrative is intermixed. But this doubtless has a pernicious Tendency, as it may mislead the uninformed, and even prejudice the Minds of other unduly. Let Truth be published as Truth, and Fiction as such.”