James FenimoreCooper

1789-1851

James Fenimore Cooper is the first major American novelist, author of the The writer was novels of frontier adventure – the Leatherstocking Tales.

The writer was born on September 15, 1789 in Burlington, New Jersey, the eleventh of twelve children. When he was one year old, he moved with parents to Cooperstown on Ostego Lake in central New York. During Cooper's boyhood, there were few backwoods settlers left and even fewer Indians. However, Cooper's early experiences in this frontier town gave him the background knowledge used in the Pioneers.

Biography aged 13 Cooper was enrolled at Yale, but was

expelled in his third year without completing his degree;

in 1806 obtained work as a sailor and, aged17, joined the crew of a merchant vessel;

served three years in the US Navy as a midshipman; in 1811 married Susan DeLancey and resigned from

the navy; The couple moved to Europe, he worked as United

States Consul in Lyons, France; In 1833 the Coopers returned to the United States,

settling in Cooperstown.

Creative workIn 1820, Cooper's wife bet

him that he could write a book better than the one she was reading. What followed was Precaution (1820) a novel of morals and manners that showed the influence of Jane Austen.

With a pleasant enough reception, he published The Spy: A Tale of Neutral Ground (1821) the first historical romance about the American Revolution. 

Creative workBread and Cheese Club

Copper founded Bread and Cheese Club - social and cultural conclave, which held meetings at Washington Hall, in New York City, from its formal beginning in 1824 until at least 1827. Its membership consisted of American writers (like William Cullen Bryant), editors, and artists.

Creative work In 1823, Cooper published The Pioneers which

eventually consisted of five books about Natty Bumppo called The Leatherstocking Tales. With this, he created what can be critically viewed as the first American novel and hero.

In 1826, at the height of his popularity, he sailed for Europe for what became a seven year stay. He wrote The Prairie(1827) and Notions of the Americans (1828), a defense of the United States against the attacks of European travelers. 

In 1838, again in the USA, he wrote The American Democrat (1838).

And later three more Leatherstocking Tales: The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841).

Creative workHistorical and Nautical Work

Cooper’s obsession with the sea from his previous experience in the Navy resulted in several books including The History of the Navy of the United States of America (1839), The Cruise of Sommers (1844), and The Distinguished American Naval Officers (1846)

Creative workThe Leatherstocking Tales

The Pioneers: The Sources of the Susquehanna, A Descriptive Tale (1823)

The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 (1826) The Prairie: A Tale (1827) The Pathfinder: The Inland Sea (1840) The Deerslayer: The First War Path (1841)

Creative workThe Leatherstocking Tales

The series was published between 1823 and 1841. The novels constitute a saga of 18th-century life among Indians and white pioneers on the New York State frontier through their portrayal of the adventures of the main character, Natty Bumppo, who takes on various names throughout the series. The books cover his entire adult life, from young manhood to old age, though they were not written or published in chronological order.

The Leatherstocking TalesNatty Bumppo

Is known by European settlers as "Leatherstocking," 'The Pathfinder", and "the trapper" and by the Native Americans as "Deerslayer," "La Longue Carabine" and "Hawkeye".

Is a young white man who was raised by Delaware Indians and educated by members of a Moravian sect, is a brave and honourable woodsman, hunter, and interpreter. He is a lifelong friend of Chingachgook, a Mohican chief, and his son Uncas. In the course of the series, Natty Bumppo allies himself with various European pioneer and military factions as well as with his Indian brothers. Throughout the series he is associated with the vanishing wilderness as an idealized figure, wifeless and childless, hauntingly loyal to a doomed way of life.

The Leatherstocking TalesThe Last of the Mohicans

is the second and most popular novel of the Leatherstocking Tales, first published in two volumes in 1826. In terms of narrative order, it is also the second novel in the series, taking place in 1757 during the French and Indian War. Its principal character Natty Bumppo is now in middle life and at the height of his powers. The story tells of brutal battles with the Iroquois and their French allies, cruel captures, narrow escapes, and revenge. The beauty of the unspoiled wilderness and sorrow at its disappearance, symbolized in Hawkeye’s Mohican friends, the last of their tribe, are important themes of the novel.

The movie of 1992

James Fenimore Cooper was greatly influenced throughout his life by his natural surroundings. This environment impacted his writings, which continue to influence us today. Cooper’s novels help to give us a sense of American history.