Avery [Part i]
There had also been several fictional incarnations that had been ripped from those headlines, which are alluded to in this introductory paragraph of the General History. A popular ballad ("“A Copy of the Verses, Composed by Captain Henry Every, Lately Gone to Sea to seek his Fortune,” found in the Contemporary Documents section) had circulated in 1694.
An author named Adrian Van Broek published a short book in 1709 entitled The Life and Adventures of Captain John Avery; like the ballad, it was semi-fiction (mostly-fiction?) presented as fact, and was circulated widely in the guise of a true account.
A Charles Johnson (probably not the same as the Johnson whose name is on the "General History") did write a play entitled The Successful Pyrate in 1713, first performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, mentioned here in the General History.
The playwright Johnson is the first author to see the great potential of an openly fictionalized Avery, and makes no attempt to present the play as a genuine account, unlike the other contemporary accounts. He turns Avery into the character of Arviragus, the titular "successful pirate," who has become the king of Madagascar; his son marries a Mogul princess, thus lending 'real' royal blood to the line that is now a mix of self-made and hereditary power. (The king's name is significant: Arviragus was a legendary king, son of Kimbelinus, whose struggles against the Romans in defense of England had been dramatized by both Geoffrey of Monmouth and Shakespeare.)