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James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper
For other people named James Cooper, see James tory after British defeat in the Revolutionary War, as they
Cooper (disambiguation).
had been allies.[4]
Shortly after the American Revolutionary War, the state
opened up these former Iroquois lands for sale and development. Coopers father purchased several thousand
acres of land in upstate New York along the head-waters
of the Susquehanna River. By 1788, William Cooper had
selected and surveyed the site where Cooperstown would
be established. He erected a home on the shore of Otsego
lake, and in the autumn of 1790 moved his family there.
He soon began construction of the mansion that would be
known as Otsego Hall. It was completed in 1799 when
James was ten.[6]
WRITINGS
3
defended the United States against a string of charges
brought against them by the Revue Britannique. For the
rest of his life, he continued skirmishing in print, sometimes for the national interest, sometimes for that of the
individual, and not infrequently for both at once.
This opportunity to make a political confession of faith
reected the political turn he already had taken in his ction, having attacked European anti-republicanism in The
Bravo (1831). Cooper continued this political course in
The Heidenmauer (1832) and The Headsman: or the Abbaye of Vigneron (1833). The Bravo depicted Venice as a
place where a ruthless oligarchy lurks behind the mask of
the serene republic. All were widely read on both sides
of the Atlantic, though The Bravo was a critical failure in
the United States.[34]
In 1833 Cooper returned to the United States and published A Letter to My Countrymen, in which he gave his
version of the controversy and sharply censured his compatriots for their share in it. He followed up with novels
and several sets of notes on his travels and experiences in
Europe. His Homeward Bound and Home as Found are
notable for containing a highly idealized self-portrait.
In June 1834 Cooper decided to reopen his ancestral
mansion, Otsego Hall, at Cooperstown. It had long been
closed and falling into decay; he had been absent from
the mansion nearly 16 years. Repairs were begun, and
the house was put in order. At rst, he wintered in New
York City and summered in Cooperstown, but eventually
Chingachgook. Bumppo was also the main character of he made Otsego Hall his permanent home.[35]
Coopers most famous novel, The Last of the Mohicans
(1826). Written in New York City, where Cooper and On May 10, 1839, Cooper published History of the Navy
his family lived from 1822 to 1826, the book became of the United States of America, a work he had long
one of the most widely read American novels of the 19th planned on writing. Before departing for Europe in May,
1826, during a parting speech at a dinner given in his
century.[28]
honor, he publicly announced his intentions to author such
In 1823, while living in New York on Beach Street in what an historical work while abroad:
is now downtowns Tribeca, Cooper became a member of
the Philadelphia Philosophical Society. In August of that
Encouraged by your kindness, I will
year his rst son died.[29]
take this opportunity of recording
In 1824 General Lafayette arrived from France aboard
the deeds and suerings of a
the Cadmus at Castle Garden in New York City as
class of men to which this nation
the nations guest. Cooper witnessed his arrival and
owes a debt of gratitude a class
was one of the active committee of welcome and
of men among whom, I am always
entertainment.[30][31]
ready to declare, not only the earliest, but many of the happiest days
In 1826 Cooper moved his family to Europe, where he
of my youth have been passed.[36]
sought to gain more income from his books as well as provide better education for his children. While overseas, he
continued to write. His books published in Paris include His historical account of the U.S. Navy was rst well reThe Red Rover and The Water Witch, two of his many ceived but later harshly criticized in America and abroad.
sea stories. During his time in Paris, the Cooper family It took Cooper 14 years to research and gather material
was seen as the center of the small American expatriate for the book. His close association with the U.S. Navy
community. During this time he developed friendships and various ocers, and his familiarity with naval life at
with the painter Samuel Morse and with the French gen- sea provided him the background and connections to reeral and American Revolutionary War hero Gilbert du search and write this work. Coopers work is said to have
Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.[32][33]
stood the test of time and is considered an authoritative
[37]
In 1832 Cooper entered the lists as a political writer; in account of the U.S. Navy during that time.
The Last of the Mohicans
Illustration from 1896 edition,
by J.T. Merrill
a series of letters to Le National, a Parisian journal, he In 1844 Coopers Proceedings of the naval court martial
LATER LIFE
3.1
Critical reaction
4 Later life
He turned again from pure ction to the combination of
art and controversy in which he had achieved distinction
with the Littlepage Manuscripts (18451846). His next
novel was The Crater, or Vulcans Peak (1847), in which
he attempted to introduce supernatural machinery. Jack
Tier (1848) was a remaking of The Red Rover, and The
Ways of the Hour was his last completed novel.[45]
His books related to current politics and Coopers selfpromotion increased the ill feeling between author and
public. The Whig press was virulent in its comments
about him, and Cooper led legal actions for libel, winning all his lawsuits.
Cooper spent the last years of his life back in CoopAfter concluding his last case in court, Cooper returned erstown. He died of dropsy on September 14, 1851,
to writing with more energy and success than he had had the day before his 62nd birthday. His interment was in
for several years. On May 10, 1839, he published his Christ Episcopal Churchyard, where his father, William
History of the U.S. Navy,[37] and returned to the Leather- Cooper, was buried. Coopers wife Susan survived her
stocking Tales series with The Pathnder, or The Inland husband only by a few months and was buried by his side
Sea (1840) and The Deerslayer (1841) and other novels. at Cooperstown.
He wrote again on maritime themes, including Ned My- Several well-known writers, politicians, and other pubers, or A Life Before the Mast, which is of particular in- lic gures honored Coopers memory with a dinner in
terest to naval historians.
New York, six months after his death, in February
In the late 1840s Cooper returned to his public attacks on 1852. Daniel Webster presided over the event and gave a
5
speech to the gathering while Washington Irving served
as a co-chairman, along with William Cullen Bryant,
who also gave an address which did much to restore
Coopers damaged reputation among American writers
of the time.[46][47]
Religious activities
Legacy
Coopers novels.[51] Honor de Balzac, the French novelist and playwright, admired him greatly.[52] Henry David
Thoreau, while attending Harvard, incorporated some of
Coopers style in his own work.[53]
Coopers work, particularly The Pioneers and The Pilot,
demonstrate an early 19th-century American preoccupation with prudence and negligence in a country where
property rights were often still in dispute.[54]
Cooper was one of the rst major American novelists to
include African, African-American and Native American
characters in his works. In particular, Native Americans
play central roles in his Leatherstocking tales. However,
his treatment of this group is complex and highlights the
tenuous relationship between frontier settlers and American Indians as exemplied in The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish,
depicting a captured white girl who is taken care of by
an Indian chief and who after several years is eventually returned to her parents.[55] Often, he gives contrasting views of Native characters to emphasize their potential for good, or conversely, their proclivity for mayhem. Last of the Mohicans includes both the character of
Magua, who is devoid of almost any redeeming qualities,
as well as Chingachgook, the last chief of the Mohicans,
is portrayed as noble, courageous, and heroic.[56] In 1831,
Cooper was elected into the National Academy of Design
as an Honorary Academician.
According to Tad Szulc, Cooper was a devotee of
Polands causes (uprisings to regain Polish sovereignty).
He brought ags of the defeated Polish rebel regiment
from Warsaw and presented them to the exiled leaders in Paris. And although Cooper and Marquis de La
Fayette were friends, it remains unclear how Cooper
found himself in Warsaw at that historical moment, although he was an active supporter of European democratic movements.[57]
Though some scholars have hesitated to classify Cooper
as a strict Romantic, Victor Hugo pronounced him greater
than the great master of modern romance.[52] This verdict was echoed by a multitude of less famous readers,
such as Balzac and Rudolf Drescher of Germany, who
were satised with no title for their favorite less than that
of the American Scott.[58] Mark Twain famously criticized The Deerslayer and The Pathnder in his satirical
but shrewdly observant essay, "Fenimore Coopers Literary Oenses" (1895),[59] which portrays Coopers writing as cliched and overwrought. Cooper was honored on
a U.S. commemorative stamp, the Famous American series, issued in 1940.
REFERENCES
7 Works
Works by James Fenimore Cooper
8 Notes
[1] At this time the British naval practice of seizing American
sailors accusing them of desertion and impressing them
into the British navy was common and is largely what led
to the War of 1812.[15]
[2] Accounts vary: Phillips, 1913, p. 53 puts the date at January 12 [17]
[3] Records of the government or Department of Navy provide little information regarding Coopers movements and
activities in the Navy. Knowledge of Coopers life comes
primarily from what he divulged in his published works,
notes, and letters of that period.[23]
9 References
[7] McCullough p. 70
Cop2010,
[27] Hicks,
Paul,"The Spymaster and the Author, The Rye Record, December 7, 2014.
http://ryerecord.com/a-little-rye-history/
a-little-local-history-the-spymaster-and-the-author.
html
Oences.
Precaution.
[46] Jones, Brian Jay. Washington Irving: An American Original. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2008: 391. ISBN
978-1-55970-836-4.
The Spy.
10 BIBLIOGRAPHY
[69] James Fenimore Cooper (2000-08-01). Tales for Fifteen, or, Imagination and Heart. Gutenberg.org. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
[92] James Fenimore Cooper (2004-02-01). Miles Wallingford. Gutenberg.org. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
[93] James Fenimore Cooper (1844). Lucy Hardinge: a second ser. of Aoat and ashore, by the author of 'The pilot'.
Books.google.com.
[94] Satanstoe; Or, the Littlepage Manuscripts. A Tale of the
Colony by Cooper Project Gutenberg. Gutenberg.org.
2005-09-01. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
[95] The Crater by James Fenimore Cooper Project Gutenberg. Gutenberg.org. 2004-03-01. Retrieved 2012-1224.
[96] Jack Tier by James Fenimore Cooper Project Gutenberg. Gutenberg.org. 2003-12-01. Retrieved 2012-1224.
[97] Oak Openings by James Fenimore Cooper Project
Gutenberg. Gutenberg.org. 2003-07-01. Retrieved
2012-12-24.
[98] The Sea Lions by James Fenimore Cooper Project
Gutenberg. Gutenberg.org. 2003-12-01. Retrieved
2012-12-24.
[99] The Lake Gun by James Fenimore Cooper Project
Gutenberg. Gutenberg.org. 2000-09-01. Retrieved
2012-12-24.
[100] New York by James Fenimore Cooper Project Gutenberg. Gutenberg.org. 2001-01-01. Retrieved 2012-1224.
10 Bibliography
Biography of James Fenimore Cooper (1789
1851)". American Studies at the University of Virginia.
Clymer, William Branford Shubrick (1900). James
Fenimore Cooper. Small, Maynard & Company,
Boston. p. 149.
Franklin, Wayne (2007). James Fenimore Cooper:
The Early Years, Volume 1. Yale University Press.
p. 708. ISBN 978-0-300-10805-7.
Hale, Edward Everett (1896). Illustrious Americans, Their Lives and Great Achievements. Philadelphia Chicago: International Publishing Company,
Philadelphia, PA., and Chicago, ILL, Entered 1896,
by W. E. SCULL, in the oce of the Librarian of
Congress, Washington, DC. ISBN 9781162227023.
9
Lounsbury, Thomas R. (1883). James Fenimore
Cooper. Houghton, Miin and Company, Boston.
p. 149.
McCullough, David (2011). The Greater Journey:
Americans in Paris. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781-4165-7176-6.
O'Daniel, Therman B. (2nd Qtr., 1947). Coopers
Treatment of the Negro. Phylon (19401956)
(Clark Atlanta University) 8 (2): 164176. JSTOR
271724. Check date values in: |date= (help)
Phillips, Mary Elizabeth (1913). James Fenimore
Cooper. John Lane Company, New York, London.
p. 368.
Roosevelt, Theodore (1883). The naval war of
1812:.
G. P. Putnams sons, New York. p. 541.
Wright, Wayne W. (1983). Hugh C. MacDougal,
ed. The Cooper Genealogy. New York State Historical Association.
10.1
Primary sources
11
Further reading
12 External links
Works by James Fenimore Cooper at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about James Fenimore Cooper at
Internet Archive
Works by James Fenimore Cooper at LibriVox
(public domain audiobooks)
James Fenimore Cooper at Open Library
James Fenimore Cooper Society Homepage
James Fenimore Cooper at the Internet Movie
Database
10
Finding Aid for the James Fenimore Cooper Collection of Papers, 1825-1904, New York Public Library
James Fenimore Cooper Letters and Manuscript
Fragments. Available online though Lehigh Universitys I Remain: A Digital Archive of Letters,
Manuscripts, and Ephemera
12
EXTERNAL LINKS
11
13
13.1
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13.2
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13.3
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