Books by James Fenimore Cooper

Book SynopsisThe English and the French are at war in North America. Two sisters,Cora and Alice, want to visit their father. They begin their journey with the English officer, Duncan Heyward and Indian guide, Magua. On their journey, some will be heroes and some will die. And what will happen to their friend Uncas, the last of the Mohican Indians?

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Book SynopsisTo find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com.

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Book SynopsisDescribing Italy as the only region of the earth that I truly love, James Fenimore Cooper used the style of picturesque impressionism to convey his vision of Italy as the microcosm of an ordered and a beautiful world. In theory, the picturesque style of writing could produce verbal sketches that embodied a visual complexity similar to that of the great Baroque and Romantic landscape paintings. In practice, the hundreds of travel books written in the picturesque style in the early 1900s communicated rapturous enthusiasm with blurred or even false reports of actual scenes. Cooper, with his scrupulous fidelity to the seen world, intended to alter this practice decisively. The response of his imagination to the light, color, forms, artifacts and figures of the Italian landscape and to the manifold significances they embody follows in joyful appreciation of the land, culture and people of a country that induced in him the desire to enjoy the passing moment.In Italy, Cooper refrained from commenting on politics, though he was an incorrigibly political man who responded to an insistent need to define the New World in defining the Old. The independence of his observations drew censure from American reviewers of the 1830s, who could not comprehend that his preference for the Bay for Naples over New York Harbor reflected his intellectual passion to rise above nationalistic feelings in matters of taste, morality and justice.

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Book SynopsisIn the spring of 1826, soon after the publication of The Last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper immersed himself in The Prairie. In taking Natty Bumppo from his beloved forests of New York state to the Great American Plains, Cooper was in part fulfilling his own prophecy at the end of The Pioneers. Though he was certainly recalling the periodic westward removals of Daniel Boone, one of the prototypes of Natty Bumppo, he was also responding to the ever-increasing public interest in Jefferson''s Louisiana Purchase.No characterization more clearly exhibits the firmness of Cooper''s vision than that of Natty Bumppo. As his colossal entrance implies, Cooper has reconceived him, and through him, the world in which he moves. Though descended from the garrulous hunter of The Pioneers and reduced to the lowly occupation of a trapper, his moral stature has undergone an apotheosis. Though he is again in The Prairie the loyal guide he was in The Last of the Mohicans, his words here take on even more striking moral force. He is both the spokesman for and the representation of, the most basic rhythm of existence, the natural cycle of life which must end in death.The metaphor of the prairie as the sea, shaped by Cooper''s meditation on the relationships between Nature, God, and Man, seems to have had a fertile hold on his imagination. The sea is, as he knew by personal experience, a place of isolation and emptiness on whose surface man lives a precarious life. Imagistically Cooper''s plot sets his little bands-the groups of outcasts led by Natty, Ishmael''s family, the Sioux, and the Pawnees-to converge and tack away from each other. There is also much in the bursts of action-escapes, captures, shifting alliances, steering by moonlight-that evokes sea life. This same metaphor also points us to a central theme of The Prairie. Beyond the fast-paced action, the novel becomes a meditation on the ways of establishing justice between men.

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Book SynopsisThough Satanstoe has been too much neglected by readers of Cooper''s time and ours, it is one of his most interesting books, combining nostalgic autobiographical recollections, pictures of manners, action and adventure, and social philosophy in one of the author''s happiest experiments in fiction. Ostensibly, it gives a comprehensive view of colonial life and society in New York State in the middle of the eighteenth century, blending all these elements with the narrative skill for which the author has always been famous.

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Book SynopsisA thrilling novel of seafaring adventure, romance, and Napoleonic history, from the author of The Leatherstocking Tales.In 1842, James Fenimore Cooper returned to transatlantic themes with a thrilling historical novel set in the Mediterranean Sea, weaving together a characteristically exciting narrative of naval pursuit with a story of lovers separated by religious differences. As the novel unfolds, warships under the command of the recently ennobled Lord Nelson are thwarted in their attempt to capture the French privateer Raoul Yvard and his graceful lugger Le Feu-Follet, while Yvard himself is frustrated because the Italian girl he loves, loyal to the Church, refuses to marry a French deist. Cooper also worked into his story one of his most colorful Yankee characters, Ithuel Bolt, an impressed seaman who combines courage and righteousness with bitterness and greedy self-interest.What sets The Wing-And-Wing apart from Cooper''s other maritime adventures is the setting: most of the action occurs in the genial Italian waters of the Bay of Naples and Gulf of Salerno, locations Cooper had visited in 1829?30 and later recalled as "the only region of the earth that I truly love." He combined the struggle for naval dominance just beginning between France and England with historical events occurring in the Kingdom of Naples, especially the role reluctantly played by Nelson, pressured by his lover Lady Hamilton, in the execution of the Neapolitan hero Admiral Caraccioli.The editors provide a historical introduction identifying Cooper''s Italian sources as well as detailed explanatory notes to enable readers fully to appreciate the geographical and historical settings in the novel. This scholarly edition, the twenty-seventh in the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper, presents an accurate text drawing upon both the first edition and a lightly revised authorial text from 1850. The editors provide a full scholarly apparatus discussing their editorial choices, and the edition has been approved by scholarly peers in the Committee for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association.

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Book SynopsisCooper''s The Chainbearer presents an exciting narrative that interrogates issues of what it means to own land. The novel examines the claims of ownership of wilderness land among Native Americans, New England squatters, and the old New York families with legal deeds.In 1845 and 1846, James Fenimore Cooper published The Littlepage Manuscripts, a trilogy reflecting on the anti-rent movement among small farmers leasing parcels in the Hudson Valley who had begun protesting against the land ownership of the old Dutch patroons. Tracing four generations of the landowners, the trilogy focused on fundamental issues of what land ownership meant under the US Constitution-which Cooper understood to guarantee absolute rights of property ownership-and also the legitimacy of such ownership of land taken from the Native Americans who did not hold such doctrines.Cooper told his British publisher that the guiding theme of The Chainbearer (1845), the second novel in the series, was "Revolution," which he presented by beginning the novel with recounting the heroic participation of his hero, Mordaunt Littlepage, in the American Revolution. In 1784, to manage his family''s holdings, Mordaunt ventures into the wilds of upper New York, where settlers, many from New England, hoped the Revolution had dissolved their "feudal" commitments to the legal owners. There he encounters one of Cooper''s archetypal demagogues, Jason Newcome, who manipulates the settlers to his advantage, as well as an old family friend, Susquesus, the "upright Onondago," who challenges Mordaunt to justify what it means to claim private ownership of land his people held in common. The plot culminates with characteristic flee-and-capture excitement when a lawless squatter, Aaron "Thousandacres," imprisons the hero, who is ultimately freed through the agency of his faithful Dutch surveyor, Andries Coejemans, the "Chainbearer," and his beautiful niece Ursula, whom Mordant ultimately marries-despite her lower-class heritage.The editors have prepared this scholarly edition from the extant manuscript at the American Antiquarian Society. They provide detailed accounts of the genesis of the novel and of their editorial procedures. This edition also contains explanatory notes for the historical references, as well as an essay on the history of the anti-rent movement by John P. McWilliams.The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper The distinguished Cooper scholar James Franklin Beard (1919?1989) began organizing the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper in the late 1960s, as his work on publishing the monumental Letters and Journals of James Fenimore Cooper came to fulfillment. Beard''s intention was to provide readers with sound scholarly editions of Cooper''s major works, based wherever possible on authorial manuscripts. To date, the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper has made available texts of many of Cooper''s best-known novels, as well as some of his most important works of political and social commentary.

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Book SynopsisAn exciting tale of nautical adventure on the waters of colonial New York Harbor.Chiefly set on the waters and islands of New York Harbor in the early years of the 1700s, James Fenimore Cooper''s novel The Water-Witch (1830) paints a vivid picture of life in the little colonial port. It was familiar territory for Cooper, who a century later had served as a junior officer on board an eighteen-gun sloop-of-war stationed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. That experience acquainted him with the navigational intricacies and dangers with which his characters must deal as they carry out the central action of the novel, the repeated attempts by a British naval cruiser to capture the brigantine commanded by a notorious smuggler known as the Skimmer of the Seas. As in all of Cooper''s nautical novels, the scenes of ship-handling and naval combat in The Water-Witch are rendered with absolute authenticity, but here he envelops them in a cloud of mystery and magic that is dispersed only in the chaotic climax of the book. This scholarly edition includes an informative historical introduction and thorough explanatory notes. It also serves as an example of the processes by which an authoritative text is established.The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper The distinguished Cooper scholar James Franklin Beard (1919?1989) began organizing the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper in the late 1960s, as his work on publishing the monumental Letters and Journals of James Fenimore Cooper came to fulfillment. Beard''s intention was to provide readers with sound scholarly editions of Cooper''s major works, based wherever possible on authorial manuscripts. To date, the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper has made available texts of many of Cooper''s best-known novels, as well as some of his most important works of political and social commentary.

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Book SynopsisA novel of manners set in the drawing rooms, ballrooms, and Wall Street offices in 1830s New York, dramatizing conflicts that we are still grappling with nearly two hundred years later.Within months of publishing Homeward Bound, James Fenimore Cooper continued that story in a second, stand-alone novel, Home as Found. One of the most important of his long career, Home as Found is a novel of manners in which Cooper satirized Wall Street speculation, jingoism, the penny press, and high society, writing boisterously and with a sharp but critical eye about a nation in transition. He revealed "follies and peculiarities" of the young nation, but did so with a hope that the advancing forces of democracy would not get turned aside by greed and insular nationalism. In drawing rooms, ballrooms, and Wall Street offices, Cooper sees clearly into the heart of the democratic experiment, dramatizing conflicts that we are still grappling with nearly two hundred years later. Stephen Carl Arch provides a historical introduction discussing Cooper''s composition of the novel and its politicized reception in journals and newspapers, along with detailed explanatory notes. This authoritative edition draws upon the first edition, a partial author''s manuscript, and a substantial (but not complete) amanuensis copy of the author''s manuscript; and provides a full scholarly apparatus discussing the editorial choices. It has been approved by the Committee on Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association.The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper The distinguished Cooper scholar James Franklin Beard (1919?1989) began organizing the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper in the late 1960s, as his work on publishing the monumental Letters and Journals of James Fenimore Cooper came to fulfillment. Beard''s intention was to provide readers with sound scholarly editions of Cooper''s major works, based wherever possible on authorial manuscripts. To date, the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper has made available texts of many of Cooper''s best-known novels, as well as some of his most important works of political and social commentary.

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Book SynopsisThe Sea Lions (1849) is the twelfth and last of Cooper''s sea novels, a genre he largely invented. Drawing upon memories from nearly three decades earlier of his own ventures in whaling and his reviews of accounts of exploring and hunting in cold seas, Cooper fashioned an exciting tale of two small vessels capturing seals near the Antarctic Circle. When the sealers are trapped by the ice and forced to winter over in extreme conditions, Cooper''s hero undergoes a spiritual transformation amidst the sublime threat of hostile Nature. The editors argue that this transformation parallels Cooper''s gradual shift from a religion of Nature to his embracing Trinitarian Christianity. In expanding the scope of his sea fiction to embrace spiritual questions, Cooper anticipates Melville, who reviewed the novel favorably. This scholarly edition, the thirtieth in The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper series, presents an accurate text that draws upon both the American first edition and the British first edition, for which the editors have determined Cooper provided some revisions not found in his American text. The edition provides extensive historical, cultural, and geographic explanatory notes. The editors also provide a full scholarly apparatus discussing their editorial choices, and the edition has been approved by scholarly peers in the Committee for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association.

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Book SynopsisA novel of early eighteenth-century Venice that Cooper called "in spirit, the most American book I ever wrote."The Bravo (1831) takes place in early eighteenth-century Venice, when the "Serene Republic" had lost much of its glory, leaving its oligarchs struggling to hold on to their family wealth by manipulating the government and people through secret councils and a figure-head doge. In 1844, Cooper called it "in spirit, the most American book I ever wrote" because of its depiction of the masses duped by demagoguery and the attempts of Congress to rein in President Jackson, who Cooper saw as representing the popular will. In the novel, the low-born hero, Jacopo Frontoni, is forced to become an agent of the state because his unjustly imprisoned father languishes in the infamous state prison. On the last page, Jacopo is executed as a scapegoat for the crimes attributed to him of which he is innocent, rendering his beloved insane. Only in a subplot does a noble couple escape Venice to enjoy marriage.The present text is based on all extant manuscript witnesses (including a lengthy deleted section) and offers extensive explanatory notes.

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Book SynopsisAs tension begins to grow in America during the revolution, Mr. Wharton, a British sympathizer, moves his family to his county estate named “The Locusts,” with the intention to avoid any political conflict. Located in Westchester County, New York, the area was considered a common ground for patriots and loyalists. However, action starts to stir in the neutral town when an enigmatic man shows up at Mr. Wharton’s home. Hoping for shelter from the severe storm looming over the area, Mr. Harper, a man who holds himself like a soldier, but dresses in plain clothes, asks Mr. Wharton if he could harbor himself at The Locusts. Mr. Wharton agrees, immediately attempting to root out Harper’s feelings about the revolution. Harper, however, stays unresponsive to his efforts. The mystery continues when Harper meets with a peddler named Harvey Birch. When a servant in Mr. Wharton’s home overhears part of their conversation, he immediately tells Mr. Wharton about what he perceived as suspicious behavior. As rumors spread about their meetings and political preferences, a theory that Birch is a spy for the British becomes popular. When a bounty is placed over Birch’s head, he must evade capture, attack, and espionage as he struggles to protect his secret. Written with beautiful simplicity, The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper was inspired by a real event during the American Revolution. Originally published in 1821, The Spy served as one of the first literary works to portray an American setting, instead of the traditional English practice to depict European settings. This innovation appealed to James Fenimore Cooper’s intention to eliminate the bias against Americans, and to foster a proud culture by depicting the American landscape with intricate detail. With the depiction of major revolutionary figures, the early environment of small-town America, and an examination of the revolution’s effect on culture, The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper is a complex and comprehensive narrative. This edition of James Fenimore Cooper’s The Spy has been redesigned to accommodate the modern reader. With a striking new cover, and printed in a stylish font, The Spy is an accessible and essential read for any American patriot.

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Book SynopsisTaking place just a few years after the Louisiana Purchase, The Prairie follows Ishmael and Esther Bush as they travel west from the Mississippi River with their fourteen children, Ellen Wade, a doctor, and Esther’s brother. While searching for a place to camp, the group meets Natty Bumppo, a legendary man now in his late eighties. Referred to as “the trapper” Natty helps the family settle somewhere safe. Later, as he roams through the forest, he stumbles upon Ellen, Esther Bush’s niece, in a secret rendezvous with her lover. Though Ishmael intends to marry Ellen to his oldest son, Ellen has fallen in love with Paul Hover, a wandering beehunter. Before she can explain, the three are kidnapped by the Sioux Native American tribe. Though they manage to pull off a narrow escape, the capture is only the beginning of Natty and the Bush’s problems. After their camp is raided and their horses are stolen, the Bush’s are left stranded. Always willing to help those in need, Natty guides the group to a naturally fortified hill. As they settle, one of Natty’s old acquaintances arrive with shocking news. Struggling to survive kidnappings, torture, murder, fires, and betrayal, the Bush’s and Natty fight to protect their loved ones and make the prairie their home. With scandalous love affairs, thrilling near death experiences, and shocking betrayals, The Prairie depicts an enthralling journey of early Americans. As the last installment of James Fenimore Cooper’s esteemed series, Leatherstocking Tales, The Prairie depicts its courageous and kind protagonist, Natty Bumppo, as he experiences the final years of his life. Matching the exciting adventures previously depicted in the series, The Prairie bids farewell to Natty Bumppo paying homage to his past while indulging in the emotional journey of an aging man. With the portrayal of memorable characters and a vivid, undomesticated setting, Cooper’s novel examines how civilization changes nature, and the cruel damage humankind inflict on each other. This edition of James Fenimore Cooper’s The Prairie features a striking new cover design and is reprinted in a readable and appealing font, encouraging modern readers to experience the emotional and vivid portrayal of the pioneers living in a young, developing nation.

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Book SynopsisSet near and on Lake Ontario in the 1750s, The Pathfinder is chronologically the third installation of James Fenimore Cooper’s gripping Leatherstocking Tales. While the French Indian War rages on, Mabel, a nineteen-year-old young woman, is travelling to see her father, Sergeant Thomas Dunham. Accompanied by her uncle and two Native Americans, Smashing Arrows and June Dew, Mabel treks through the dense forests of upstate New York, towards her father’s home on Lake Ontario. While the group approaches a river, they meet up with Natty Bumppo, a middle-aged hero who has earned the nickname “Pathfinder”, and his friends, Chingachgook and Jasper. The two parties agree to combine, because the forest has become a perilous place amid the French Indian War. As they continue their journey to Thomas Dunham’s house, an English castle on the shore of Lake Ontario, the group faces narrow escapes, dangerous terrain, and the consequences of the French Indian War. Though, even when they arrive at the home of Sergeant Thomas Dunham, their journey has barely begun. While he was glad to reunite with his daughter, Dunham’s true motivation for her arrival was his hopes to marry her to Pathfinder. However, Mabel has already fallen in love with Jasper. Still, in efforts to manipulate the couple, Dunham tells Pathfinder that Mabel wishes to marry him. While this love triangle persists, the group is challenged with battles, treason and the collateral damage of each. Based off of James Fenimore Cooper’s real-life experience as a shipman, The Pathfinder explores a nautical setting, along with the pioneer setting of its predecessors. Placed chronologically third in the narrative of the Leatherstocking Tales, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pathfinder combines adventure and romance. With a picturesque setting, treachery, love, and adventure, The Pathfinder remains to be a captivating narrative that explores new characters in the acclaimed series. Now featuring a new, eye-catching cover design, and a modern, readable font, this edition of The Pathfinder by James Fenimore Cooper is an American classic that entertains with stories of passion and adventure, while allowing readers to immerse themselves in the climate and terrain of early America.

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Book SynopsisNatty Bumppo is a bold young man raised by Native Americans. Nicknamed “Deerslayer” for his courageous attitude that sets him apart from his peers, Natty is adventurous and kind. As a firm believer that all living beings should respect the gifts of nature, Natty despises violence. However, as he comes of age and experiences the antagonistic relationship between Native Americans and white settlers, violence is difficult to avoid. With the help of his best friend, Chingachgook, Natty struggles to confront two white men at the center of the violence. Henry March, a man nearly opposite of Natty in terms of morals and upbringing, collaborates with former pirate “Floating Tom” Hutter to achieve their racist agenda and claim land previously occupied by indigenous people. Intending to scalp and kill as many Native Americans as they can, Hutter and March attack a Native American village, setting a cruel precedent. This attack spurs retribution and a string of kidnappings, ransoms, and rescue missions—all of which Natty finds himself in the middle of. Meanwhile, Natty and Chingachgook meet Tom Hutter’s daughters, Judith and Hetty, who also find themselves stuck in the bloodthirsty environment the elder generation is brewing. Judith is enamored by Natty and attempts to nurture a romance between the two of them. Now, facing tragic deaths, unnecessary violence, and the trials of love, Natty must come of age as he attempts to survive and stop the brutality. With intricate prose and high adventure, The Deerslayer introduces the pioneer New York setting and protagonists of James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales series. The Deerslayer depicts the violence that the Europeans inflicted upon Native Americans with a unique perspective, noting the differences between the two races while also hailing the similarities, encouraging unity. Though written much later than the rest of the novels in the series, The Deerslayer prequels the rest, and is chronologically first in the narrative of James Fenimore Cooper’s famous series. Blending action and romance genres, The Deerslayer remains exciting to a modern audience while depicting the struggle of early American life. This edition of James Fenimore Cooper’s The Deerslayer features a new, eye-catching cover design and is printed in a modern font. With these accommodations, contemporary readers can experience the exceptional and complex origin story of the courageous protagonist of the Leatherstocking Tales.

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