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'''James Fenimore Cooper''' (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a [[novel]]ist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the [[historical novel]]s known as the ''[[Leatherstocking Tales]]'', featuring frontiersman [[Natty Bumppo]]. Among his most famous works is the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] novel ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]]'', often regarded as his masterpiece.
'''James Fenimore Cooper''' (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a [[novel]]ist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the [[historical novel]]s known as the ''[[Leatherstocking Tales]]'', featuring frontiersman [[Natty Bumppo]]. Among his most famous works is the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] novel ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]]'', often regarded as his masterpiece.
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==Biography==
==Early life==
===Early life===
James Fenimore Cooper was born in [[Burlington, New Jersey]], the son of [[William Cooper (judge)|William]] and Elizabeth (Fenimore) Cooper. His father was a [[United States Congress]]man. Shortly after his first birthday, his family moved to [[Cooperstown, New York]], a community founded by his father.
James Fenimore Cooper was born in [[Burlington, New Jersey]], the son of [[William Cooper (judge)|William]] and Elizabeth (Fenimore) Cooper. His father was a [[United States Congress]]man. Shortly after his first birthday, his family moved to [[Cooperstown, New York]], a community founded by his father.


At the age of 13, Cooper was enrolled at [[Yale University|Yale]], but he did not obtain a degree, due to his expulsion, apparently for a dangerous prank that involved blowing up another student's door.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/COOPER/cooperbiography.html |title=Biography of James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) |publisher=American Studies at the [[University of Virginia]]}}</ref> Another less dangerous prank consisted of training a donkey to sit in a professor's chair.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.readprint.com/author-24/James-Fenimore-Cooper-books#biography |title=Biography of James Fenimore Cooper |publisher=readprint.com}}</ref> He obtained work as a sailor on a [[merchant vessel]], and at 18, joined the [[United States Navy]]. He obtained the rank of [[midshipman]] before leaving in 1811.
At the age of 13, Cooper was enrolled at [[Yale University|Yale]], but he did not obtain a degree, due to his expulsion, apparently for a dangerous prank that involved blowing up another student's door.<ref>[[#xroads|J.F. Cooper Biography]]</ref> Another less dangerous prank consisted of training a donkey to sit in a professor's chair.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.readprint.com/author-24/James-Fenimore-Cooper-books#biography |title=Biography of James Fenimore Cooper |publisher=readprint.com}}</ref> He obtained work as a sailor on a [[merchant vessel]], and at 18, joined the [[United States Navy]]. Before leaving in 1811 he obtained the rank of [[midshipman]], conferred on him via a printed warrant, signed by [[Thomas Jefferson]].<ref>[[#Hale1896|Hale, 1896]] Illustrious Americans p.657</ref><ref>[[#Franklin2007|Franklin, 2007]] Illustrious Americans p.101</ref>



At age 21, he married Susan DeLancey. They had seven children, five of whom lived to adulthood. His daughter, Susan Fenimore Cooper, was a writer on nature, female suffrage, and other topics. She and her father often edited each other’s work.<ref>{{cite web|title=Susan Fenimore Cooper|url=http://essays.quotidiana.org/cooper_s/|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> The writer [[Paul Fenimore Cooper]] was a great-grandson of James Cooper.
At age 21, he married Susan DeLancey. They had seven children, five of whom lived to adulthood. His daughter, Susan Fenimore Cooper, was a writer on nature, female suffrage, and other topics. She and her father often edited each other’s work.<ref>{{cite web|title=Susan Fenimore Cooper|url=http://essays.quotidiana.org/cooper_s/|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> The writer [[Paul Fenimore Cooper]] was a great-grandson of James Cooper.


===Writings===
==Writings==
⚫
[[File:Appletons' Cooper James Fenimore Otsego Hall.jpg|thumb |260px |Otsego Hall, Cooper's ancestral home]]
He anonymously published his first book, [[Precaution (novel)|''Precaution'']] (1820). He soon issued several others. In 1823, he published ''[[The Pioneers (novel)|The Pioneers]]''; this was the first of the [[Leatherstocking Tales|''Leatherstocking'' series]], featuring Natty Bumppo, the resourceful American woodsman at home with the [[Delaware Indians]] and especially their chief ''Chingachgook''. Cooper's most famous novel, ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]]'' (1826), became one of the most widely read American novels of the 19th century. The book was written in New York City, where Cooper and his family lived from 1822 to 1826.
He anonymously published his first book, [[Precaution (novel)|''Precaution'']] (1820). He soon issued several others. In 1823, he published ''[[The Pioneers (novel)|The Pioneers]]''; this was the first of the [[Leatherstocking Tales|''Leatherstocking'' series]], featuring Natty Bumppo, the resourceful American woodsman at home with the [[Delaware Indians]] and especially their chief ''Chingachgook''. Cooper's most famous novel, ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]]'' (1826), became one of the most widely read American novels of the 19th century. The book was written in New York City, where Cooper and his family lived from 1822 to 1826.


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In 1832 he entered the lists as a political writer; in a series of letters to the ''National'', a Parisian journal, he 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.
In 1832 he entered the lists as a political writer; in a series of letters to the ''National'', a Parisian journal, he 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.


⚫
[[File:Appletons' Cooper James Fenimore Otsego Hall.jpg|thumb|Otsego Hall, Cooper's ancestral home]]
This opportunity to make a political confession of faith reflected the political turn he already had taken in his fiction, 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.<ref>[http://external.oneonta.edu/cooper/susan/susan-bravo.html James Fenimore Cooper, ''The Bravo''], Oneonta University</ref>
This opportunity to make a political confession of faith reflected the political turn he already had taken in his fiction, 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.<ref>[http://external.oneonta.edu/cooper/susan/susan-bravo.html James Fenimore Cooper, ''The Bravo''], Oneonta University</ref>


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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 speedily put in order. At first, he wintered in New York City and summered in Cooperstown, but eventually he made Otsego Hall his permanent home.<ref name="appletons">{{Cite Appletons'|Cooper, James Fenimore|year=1900|author=Charles Ledyard Norton}}</ref>
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 speedily put in order. At first, he wintered in New York City and summered in Cooperstown, but eventually he made Otsego Hall his permanent home.<ref name="appletons">{{Cite Appletons'|Cooper, James Fenimore|year=1900|author=Charles Ledyard Norton}}</ref>


===Reaction===
==Reaction==
[[File:James Fenimore Cooper by Brady.jpg|thumb|right|Photograph by [[Mathew Brady]] c. 1850]]
[[File:James Fenimore Cooper by Brady.jpg|thumb|right|Photograph by [[Mathew Brady]] c. 1850]]
His books related to current [[politics]] and Cooper's self promotion increased the ill feeling between author and public. The [[United States Whig Party|Whig]] press was virulent in its comments about him, and Cooper filed legal actions for [[libel]], winning all his lawsuits.
His books related to current [[politics]] and Cooper's self promotion increased the ill feeling between author and public. The [[United States Whig Party|Whig]] press was virulent in its comments about him, and Cooper filed legal actions for [[libel]], winning all his lawsuits.
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After concluding his last case in court, Cooper returned to writing with more energy and success than he had had for several years. He wrote a history of the US Navy, and returned to the Leatherstocking series with ''[[The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea]]'' (1840) and ''[[The Deerslayer]]'' (1841) and other novels. He wrote again on maritime themes, including ''Ned Myers, or A Life Before the Mast'', which is of particular interest to naval historians.
After concluding his last case in court, Cooper returned to writing with more energy and success than he had had for several years. He wrote a history of the US Navy, and returned to the Leatherstocking series with ''[[The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea]]'' (1840) and ''[[The Deerslayer]]'' (1841) and other novels. He wrote again on maritime themes, including ''Ned Myers, or A Life Before the Mast'', which is of particular interest to naval historians.


===Later life===
==Later life==


He turned again from pure [[fiction]] to the combination of art and controversy in which he had achieved distinction with the ''Littlepage Manuscripts'' (1845–1846). His next novel was ''The Crater, or Vulcan's 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.
He turned again from pure [[fiction]] to the combination of art and controversy in which he had achieved distinction with the ''Littlepage Manuscripts'' (1845–1846). His next novel was ''The Crater, or Vulcan's 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.
Line 51: Line 53:
Cooper spent the last years of his life back in Cooperstown. He died of [[Edema|dropsy]] on September 14, 1851, the day before his 62nd birthday. His interment was in Christ Episcopal Churchyard, where his father, [[William Cooper (judge)|William Cooper]], was buried. Several well-known writers, politicians, and other public figures honored Cooper's memory with a dinner in February 1852; [[Washington Irving]] served as a co-chairman for the event, alongside [[William Cullen Bryant]] and [[Daniel Webster]].<ref>Jones, Brian Jay. ''Washington Irving: An American Original''. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2008: 391. ISBN 978-1-55970-836-4.</ref>
Cooper spent the last years of his life back in Cooperstown. He died of [[Edema|dropsy]] on September 14, 1851, the day before his 62nd birthday. His interment was in Christ Episcopal Churchyard, where his father, [[William Cooper (judge)|William Cooper]], was buried. Several well-known writers, politicians, and other public figures honored Cooper's memory with a dinner in February 1852; [[Washington Irving]] served as a co-chairman for the event, alongside [[William Cullen Bryant]] and [[Daniel Webster]].<ref>Jones, Brian Jay. ''Washington Irving: An American Original''. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2008: 391. ISBN 978-1-55970-836-4.</ref>


==Legacy and criticism==
==Legacy==
[[File:James Fenimore Cooper2 1940 issue.jpg|thumb|Cooper was honored on a U.S. commemorative stamp, issued in 1940]]
[[File:James Fenimore Cooper2 1940 issue.jpg|thumb|Cooper was honored on a U.S. commemorative stamp, issued in 1940]]
[[File:1989 CPA 6102.jpg|thumb|A stamp of the [[Soviet Union]] commemorating Cooper's bicentennial in 1989]]
[[File:1989 CPA 6102.jpg|thumb|1989 [[Soviet Union|U.S.S.R.]] stamp commemorating Cooper's bicentennial]]


Cooper was one of the most popular 19th-century American authors, and his work was admired greatly throughout the world. While on his death bed, the Austrian composer [[Franz Schubert]] wanted most to read more of Cooper's novels.<ref>Letter from Schubert to Franz von Schober, November 12, 1828</ref> [[Honoré de Balzac]], the French novelist and playwright, admired him greatly{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}. Cooper's stories have been translated into nearly all the languages of Europe and into some of those of Asia.
Cooper was one of the most popular 19th-century American authors, and his work was admired greatly throughout the world. While on his death bed, the Austrian composer [[Franz Schubert]] wanted most to read more of Cooper's novels.<ref>Letter from Schubert to Franz von Schober, November 12, 1828</ref> [[Honoré de Balzac]], the French novelist and playwright, admired him greatly{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}. Cooper's stories have been translated into nearly all the languages of Europe and into some of those of Asia.


Cooper's work is read carefully by law and literature scholars such as Nan Goodman, who argues that several of Cooper's novels, particularly ''The Pioneers'' and ''[[The Pilot: A Tale of the Sea|The Pilot]]'', demonstrate an early 19th century American preoccupation with prudence and negligence in a country where property rights were often still in dispute.<ref>Nan Goodman, ''Shifting the Blame: Literature, Law, and the Theory of Accidents in Nineteenth-Century America''. Princeton UP 1998</ref> However, despite his close association with the period, he also innovated in several ways. Amongst these, Cooper was the first major American Novelist to include African and African American characters. Though these black characters often fell into stereotypical roles, he still used slaves, free Negroes and mulattoes throughout his books.<ref name = O'Daniel>{{cite journal| title = Cooper's Treatment of the Negro| first = Therman B. | last =O'Daniel | journal = Phylon (1940-1956)| volume = 8| number = 2| date = 2nd Qtr., 1947| pages = 164–176 | publisher = Clark Atlanta University | jstor = 271724}}</ref>
Cooper's work is read carefully by law and literature scholars such as Nan Goodman, who argues that several of Cooper's novels, particularly ''The Pioneers'' and ''[[The Pilot: A Tale of the Sea|The Pilot]]'', demonstrate an early 19th century American preoccupation with prudence and negligence in a country where property rights were often still in dispute.<ref>Nan Goodman, ''Shifting the Blame: Literature, Law, and the Theory of Accidents in Nineteenth-Century America''. Princeton UP 1998</ref> However, despite his close association with the period, he also innovated in several ways. Amongst these, Cooper was the first major American Novelist to include African and African American characters. Though these black characters often fell into stereotypical roles, he still used slaves, free Negroes and mulattoes throughout his books.<ref>[[#O'Daniel|O'Daniel] pp.164–176]]</ref>
⚫
[[File:James Fenimore Cooper Statue.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Statue in Cooperstown, New York]]
Furthermore, Cooper was innovative in his use and portrayal of Native Americans, who play central roles in his Leatherstocking tales. However, his treatment of this group is a complex and highlights the tenuous relationship between frontier settlers and Indians.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} Often, he gives contrasting views of Native characters to emphasize their potential for good, or conversely, their potential for mayhem. {{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} In ''Last of the Mohicans'', the stereotypical, nineteenth century view of the native is seen in the character of Magua, who is devoid of almost any redeeming qualities. In comparison, Chingachgook, the last chief of the Mohicans, is portrayed as noble, courageous, and heroic.
Furthermore, Cooper was innovative in his use and portrayal of Native Americans, who play central roles in his Leatherstocking tales. However, his treatment of this group is a complex and highlights the tenuous relationship between frontier settlers and Indians.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} Often, he gives contrasting views of Native characters to emphasize their potential for good, or conversely, their potential for mayhem. {{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} In ''Last of the Mohicans'', the stereotypical, nineteenth century view of the native is seen in the character of Magua, who is devoid of almost any redeeming qualities. In comparison, Chingachgook, the last chief of the Mohicans, is portrayed as noble, courageous, and heroic.


Though some scholars may dispute Cooper being classified as a Romantic, [[Victor Hugo]] pronounced him greater than the great master of modern romance{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}, and this verdict was echoed by a multitude of less famous readers{{Who|date=May 2009}}, who were satisfied with no title for their favorite less than that of the "American [[Walter Scott|Scott]].”{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} ''The Deerslayer'' and ''The Pathfinder'' were criticized by [[Mark Twain]] in a satirical but vicious essay, "[[Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses]]" (1895),<ref>http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/projects/rissetto/offense.html "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences"</ref> which has often been criticized as unfair and distorted.<ref>Lance Schachterle and Kent Ljungquist, "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Defenses: Twain and the Text of The Deerslayer" in Joel Myerson, ed., Studies in the American Renaissance, 1988 (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988) (pp. 401-417)</ref> As scholars Schachterle and Ljungquist write, "Twain's deliberate misreading of Cooper has been devastating....Twain valued economy of style (a possible but not necessary criterion), but such concision simply was not a characteristic of many early nineteenth-century novelists' work. Writing with the expectation that their readers would often read their works aloud, Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, Cooper, and Melville favored a full, sometimes rotund, style that Twain and his fellow Realists a generation later spurned."<ref>Schachterle and Ljungquist, p. 410)</ref>
Though some scholars may dispute Cooper being classified as a Romantic, [[Victor Hugo]] pronounced him greater than the great master of modern romance{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}, and this verdict was echoed by a multitude of less famous readers{{Who|date=May 2009}}, who were satisfied with no title for their favorite less than that of the "American [[Walter Scott|Scott]].”{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} ''The Deerslayer'' and ''The Pathfinder'' were criticized by [[Mark Twain]] in a satirical but vicious essay, "[[Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses]]" (1895),<ref>http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/projects/rissetto/offense.html "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences"</ref> which has often been criticized as unfair and distorted.<ref>Lance Schachterle and Kent Ljungquist, "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Defenses: Twain and the Text of The Deerslayer" in Joel Myerson, ed., Studies in the American Renaissance, 1988 (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988) (pp. 401-417)</ref> As scholars Schachterle and Ljungquist write, "Twain's deliberate misreading of Cooper has been devastating....Twain valued economy of style (a possible but not necessary criterion), but such concision simply was not a characteristic of many early nineteenth-century novelists' work. Writing with the expectation that their readers would often read their works aloud, Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, Cooper, and Melville favored a full, sometimes rotund, style that Twain and his fellow Realists a generation later spurned."<ref>Schachterle and Ljungquist, p. 410)</ref>
⚫
[[File:James Fenimore Cooper Statue.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Statue in Cooperstown, New York]]


His reputation today rests upon the five Leatherstocking tales and some of the maritime stories. Literary scholar [[Leslie Fiedler]], however, noted that Cooper's "collected works are monumental in their cumulative dullness."<ref>Fiedler, Leslie. ''Love and Death in the American Novel''. Dalkey Archive Press, 2008 (reprint): 180. ISBN 978-1-56478-163-5</ref>
His reputation today rests upon the five Leatherstocking tales and some of the maritime stories. Literary scholar [[Leslie Fiedler]], however, noted that Cooper's "collected works are monumental in their cumulative dullness."<ref>Fiedler, Leslie. ''Love and Death in the American Novel''. Dalkey Archive Press, 2008 (reprint): 180. ISBN 978-1-56478-163-5</ref>
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Three dining halls at the [[State University of New York at Oswego]] are named in Cooper's remembrance (Cooper Hall, The Pathfinder, and Littlepage) because of his temporary residence in Oswego and for setting some of his works there.<ref>http://www.oswego.edu/library/resources/buildings.html</ref> The gilded and red tole chandelier hanging in the library of the White House in Washington DC is from the home of James Fenimore Cooper. It was brought there through the efforts of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in her great White House restoration.{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} The James Fenimore Cooper Memorial Prize at [[New York University]] is awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate student of journalism. <ref>http://cas.nyu.edu/object/bulletin1012.ug.honorsawards</ref>
Three dining halls at the [[State University of New York at Oswego]] are named in Cooper's remembrance (Cooper Hall, The Pathfinder, and Littlepage) because of his temporary residence in Oswego and for setting some of his works there.<ref>http://www.oswego.edu/library/resources/buildings.html</ref> The gilded and red tole chandelier hanging in the library of the White House in Washington DC is from the home of James Fenimore Cooper. It was brought there through the efforts of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in her great White House restoration.{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} The James Fenimore Cooper Memorial Prize at [[New York University]] is awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate student of journalism. <ref>http://cas.nyu.edu/object/bulletin1012.ug.honorsawards</ref>


{{clear}}
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==Bibliography==

==Works==
<div style="background-color:white; border:solid 2px steelblue">
{| class="navbox collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: left; border: 3px; margin-top: 0.0em;"
! style="background-color:lightsteelblue; text-align: center" |<Font size="3"><font color=navy>Works by James Fenimore Cooper</font>
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<small>
{|class="wikitable"
{|class="wikitable"
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|Unfinished, history of New York City, 1st pub. 1864
|Unfinished, history of New York City, 1st pub. 1864
|}</small>
|}</small>
|}
</div style><br><br>


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

⚫
==Bibliography==
*{{cite web |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/COOPER/cooperbiography.html |title=Biography of James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) |ref=xroads |publisher=American Studies at the [[University of Virginia]]}}

*{{cite book |last=Franklin |first=Wayne |title=James Fenimore Cooper: The Early Years, Volume 1 |ref=Franklin2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |pages=708 |year=2007| |ISBN=978-0-300-10805-7 }}[http://books.google.com/books?id=qLGhXa9RSVEC&dq=james+fenimore+cooper&source=gbs_navlinks_s Url]

*{{cite book |last=Hale |first=Edward Everett |title=Illustrious Americans, Their Lives and Great Achievements |ref=Hale1896 |publisher=International Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA., and Chicago, ILL, Entered 1896, by W. E. SCULL, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, DC |location=Philadelphia Chicago |year=1896| |ISBN=9781162227023 }}

*{{cite journal| title = Cooper's Treatment of the Negro| first = Therman B. | last =O'Daniel | journal = Phylon (1940-1956) |ref=O'Daniel |volume = 8| number = 2| date = 2nd Qtr., 1947| pages = 164–176 | publisher = Clark Atlanta University | jstor = 271724}}

*{{cite book |last=Phillips |first=Mary Elizabeth |title=James Fenimore Cooper |ref=Phillips |publisher=John Lane Company, New York, London |pages=368 |year=1913 }}
[http://books.google.com/books?id=so4DAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s Url]


==External links==
==External links==

Revision as of 04:02, 19 June 2012

For other people named James Cooper, see James Cooper (disambiguation).
James Fenimore Cooper
Portrait by John Wesley Jarvis
Portrait by John Wesley Jarvis
Born(1789-09-15)September 15, 1789
Burlington, New Jersey
DiedSeptember 14, 1851(1851-09-14) (aged 61)
Cooperstown, New York
OccupationNovelist
GenreHistorical fiction
Literary movementColonial Realism
Notable worksThe Last of the Mohicans

James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo. Among his most famous works is the Romantic novel The Last of the Mohicans, often regarded as his masterpiece.



Early life

James Fenimore Cooper was born in Burlington, New Jersey, the son of William and Elizabeth (Fenimore) Cooper. His father was a United States Congressman. Shortly after his first birthday, his family moved to Cooperstown, New York, a community founded by his father.

At the age of 13, Cooper was enrolled at Yale, but he did not obtain a degree, due to his expulsion, apparently for a dangerous prank that involved blowing up another student's door.[1] Another less dangerous prank consisted of training a donkey to sit in a professor's chair.[2] He obtained work as a sailor on a merchant vessel, and at 18, joined the United States Navy. Before leaving in 1811 he obtained the rank of midshipman, conferred on him via a printed warrant, signed by Thomas Jefferson.[3][4]


At age 21, he married Susan DeLancey. They had seven children, five of whom lived to adulthood. His daughter, Susan Fenimore Cooper, was a writer on nature, female suffrage, and other topics. She and her father often edited each other’s work.[5] The writer Paul Fenimore Cooper was a great-grandson of James Cooper.

Writings

Otsego Hall, Cooper's ancestral home

He anonymously published his first book, Precaution (1820). He soon issued several others. In 1823, he published The Pioneers; this was the first of the Leatherstocking series, featuring Natty Bumppo, the resourceful American woodsman at home with the Delaware Indians and especially their chief Chingachgook. Cooper's most famous novel, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), became one of the most widely read American novels of the 19th century. The book was written in New York City, where Cooper and his family lived from 1822 to 1826.

In 1826 Cooper moved his family to Europe, where he 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 The Red Rover and The Water Witch—two of his many sea stories. During his time in Paris, the Cooper family was seen as the center of the small American expatriate community. During this time he developed a friendship with the painter Samuel Morse and French General and American Revolutionary War hero, marquis de Lafayette. [6]

In 1832 he entered the lists as a political writer; in a series of letters to the National, a Parisian journal, he 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 reflected the political turn he already had taken in his fiction, 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.[7]

In 1833 Cooper returned to the United States and immediately published A Letter to My Countrymen, in which he gave his own 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 speedily put in order. At first, he wintered in New York City and summered in Cooperstown, but eventually he made Otsego Hall his permanent home.[8]

Reaction

Photograph by Mathew Brady c. 1850

His books related to current politics and Cooper's self promotion increased the ill feeling between author and public. The Whig press was virulent in its comments about him, and Cooper filed legal actions for libel, winning all his lawsuits.

After concluding his last case in court, Cooper returned to writing with more energy and success than he had had for several years. He wrote a history of the US Navy, and returned to the Leatherstocking series with The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea (1840) and The Deerslayer (1841) and other novels. He wrote again on maritime themes, including Ned Myers, or A Life Before the Mast, which is of particular interest to naval historians.

Later life

He turned again from pure fiction to the combination of art and controversy in which he had achieved distinction with the Littlepage Manuscripts (1845–1846). His next novel was The Crater, or Vulcan's 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.

Cooper spent the last years of his life back in Cooperstown. He died of dropsy on September 14, 1851, the day before his 62nd birthday. His interment was in Christ Episcopal Churchyard, where his father, William Cooper, was buried. Several well-known writers, politicians, and other public figures honored Cooper's memory with a dinner in February 1852; Washington Irving served as a co-chairman for the event, alongside William Cullen Bryant and Daniel Webster.[9]

Legacy

Cooper was honored on a U.S. commemorative stamp, issued in 1940
1989 U.S.S.R. stamp commemorating Cooper's bicentennial

Cooper was one of the most popular 19th-century American authors, and his work was admired greatly throughout the world. While on his death bed, the Austrian composer Franz Schubert wanted most to read more of Cooper's novels.[10] Honoré de Balzac, the French novelist and playwright, admired him greatly[citation needed]. Cooper's stories have been translated into nearly all the languages of Europe and into some of those of Asia.

Cooper's work is read carefully by law and literature scholars such as Nan Goodman, who argues that several of Cooper's novels, 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.[11] However, despite his close association with the period, he also innovated in several ways. Amongst these, Cooper was the first major American Novelist to include African and African American characters. Though these black characters often fell into stereotypical roles, he still used slaves, free Negroes and mulattoes throughout his books.[12] Furthermore, Cooper was innovative in his use and portrayal of Native Americans, who play central roles in his Leatherstocking tales. However, his treatment of this group is a complex and highlights the tenuous relationship between frontier settlers and Indians.[citation needed] Often, he gives contrasting views of Native characters to emphasize their potential for good, or conversely, their potential for mayhem. [citation needed] In Last of the Mohicans, the stereotypical, nineteenth century view of the native is seen in the character of Magua, who is devoid of almost any redeeming qualities. In comparison, Chingachgook, the last chief of the Mohicans, is portrayed as noble, courageous, and heroic.

Though some scholars may dispute Cooper being classified as a Romantic, Victor Hugo pronounced him greater than the great master of modern romance[citation needed], and this verdict was echoed by a multitude of less famous readers[who?], who were satisfied with no title for their favorite less than that of the "American Scott.”[citation needed] The Deerslayer and The Pathfinder were criticized by Mark Twain in a satirical but vicious essay, "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" (1895),[13] which has often been criticized as unfair and distorted.[14] As scholars Schachterle and Ljungquist write, "Twain's deliberate misreading of Cooper has been devastating....Twain valued economy of style (a possible but not necessary criterion), but such concision simply was not a characteristic of many early nineteenth-century novelists' work. Writing with the expectation that their readers would often read their works aloud, Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, Cooper, and Melville favored a full, sometimes rotund, style that Twain and his fellow Realists a generation later spurned."[15]

Statue in Cooperstown, New York

His reputation today rests upon the five Leatherstocking tales and some of the maritime stories. Literary scholar Leslie Fiedler, however, noted that Cooper's "collected works are monumental in their cumulative dullness."[16]

Cooper was also criticized heavily for his depiction of women characters in his work. James Russell Lowell, Cooper's contemporary and a critic, referred to it poetically in A Fable for Critics, writing, ". . . the women he draws from one model don't vary / All sappy as maples and flat as a prairie."[17]

Three dining halls at the State University of New York at Oswego are named in Cooper's remembrance (Cooper Hall, The Pathfinder, and Littlepage) because of his temporary residence in Oswego and for setting some of his works there.[18] The gilded and red tole chandelier hanging in the library of the White House in Washington DC is from the home of James Fenimore Cooper. It was brought there through the efforts of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in her great White House restoration.[citation needed] The James Fenimore Cooper Memorial Prize at New York University is awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate student of journalism. [19]

Works



References

  1. ^ J.F. Cooper Biography
  2. ^ "Biography of James Fenimore Cooper". readprint.com.
  3. ^ Hale, 1896 Illustrious Americans p.657
  4. ^ Franklin, 2007 Illustrious Americans p.101
  5. ^ "Susan Fenimore Cooper". Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  6. ^ David McCullough, The Greater Journey, Americans in Paris, Simon & Schuster, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4165-7176-6
  7. ^ James Fenimore Cooper, The Bravo, Oneonta University
  8. ^ public domain Charles Ledyard Norton (1900). Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J. (eds.). Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ Jones, Brian Jay. Washington Irving: An American Original. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2008: 391. ISBN 978-1-55970-836-4.
  10. ^ Letter from Schubert to Franz von Schober, November 12, 1828
  11. ^ Nan Goodman, Shifting the Blame: Literature, Law, and the Theory of Accidents in Nineteenth-Century America. Princeton UP 1998
  12. ^ O'Daniel] pp.164–176
  13. ^ http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/projects/rissetto/offense.html "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences"
  14. ^ Lance Schachterle and Kent Ljungquist, "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Defenses: Twain and the Text of The Deerslayer" in Joel Myerson, ed., Studies in the American Renaissance, 1988 (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988) (pp. 401-417)
  15. ^ Schachterle and Ljungquist, p. 410)
  16. ^ Fiedler, Leslie. Love and Death in the American Novel. Dalkey Archive Press, 2008 (reprint): 180. ISBN 978-1-56478-163-5
  17. ^ Porte, Joel. The Romance in America: Studies in Cooper, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, and James. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1969: 20.
  18. ^ http://www.oswego.edu/library/resources/buildings.html
  19. ^ http://cas.nyu.edu/object/bulletin1012.ug.honorsawards

Bibliography

  • Franklin, Wayne (2007). James Fenimore Cooper: The Early Years, Volume 1. Yale University Press. p. 708. ISBN 978-0-300-10805-7. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)Url
  • 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 office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, DC. ISBN 9781162227023. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  • O'Daniel, Therman B. (2nd Qtr., 1947). "Cooper's Treatment of the Negro". Phylon (1940-1956). 8 (2). Clark Atlanta University: 164–176. JSTOR 271724. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • Phillips, Mary Elizabeth (1913). James Fenimore Cooper. John Lane Company, New York, London. p. 368.

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