Throughout much of the nineteenth century James Fenimore Cooper was one of the most widely read novelists in the world and one of the most highly acclaimed. During his lifetime a series of well-publicized quarrels with his country caused his prestige...

One hundred and fifty years ago Cooper was one of the world's most widely read novelists and one of the most highly acclaimed. During his lifetime a number of well-publicized quarrels with his country caused his prestige to suffer, but at his death in...

James Fenimore Cooper sailed for Europe with his family on 1 June 1826 for a projected five-year visit. He left New York with the multiple aims of securing favorable European publication agreements for his works, furthering the education of his...

When James Fenimore Cooper decided to write The Spy (1821), a narrative of manners set in the America of the Revolutionary War, he was certainly conscious of the fact that nothing of the kind already existed. Cooper justified his undertaking...

(b. September 15, 1789; d. September 14, 1851) American writer known for early U.S. war novels. James Fenimore Cooper was part of the generation of writers who created the first distinctively American literature following the Revolutionary War....

Born September 15, 1789 Burlington, New Jersey Died September 14, 1851 Cooperstown, New York Writer James Fenimore Cooper introduced the themes of the frontier, white/Indian conflict, and America's westward expansion as proper subjects for...

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 romances known as the...

James Fenimore Cooper began writing as a lark, especially since male authors were not common because of social stigma in the early 19th century. His first effort, 'Precaution,' did not do well, but rededication to the craft and focus on American topics and social...

Monarch Notes 01-01-1963 Critical Commentary and Bibliography Critical Commentary Since many literary critics and the majority of the popular reading public agree that The Leatherstocking Series is Cooper's finest and most important work, any major criticism of Cooper necessarily must have reference to his...

Twin baby grand pianos stand in the living room of a white clapboard farmhouse high on the Taconic Ridge on the border of New York and Massachusetts. Here the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay composed and played...

NORWICH, Conn. _ The Mohegans were wiped out long ago in the novel "The Last of the Mohicans," but today the real American Indian tribe is flush with casino cash and using it to restore its proud past.The Connecticut tribe has reclaimed the Mohegan Royal...

In the excerpt below, from the text of a lecture delivered in 1852 at a Public Memorial Meeting in honor of Cooper, Bryant surveys Cooper's career and assesses its significance.

In the following essay, Adams contends that Cooper was ambivalent toward the law in America because he "was impelled to believe—emotionally and intellectually—in the law's ability to achieve both social and individual integrity by the same set of historical and psychological conditions that encouraged him to reject the law as divisive. "

In the following excerpt, Lounsbury assesses the positive and negative characteristics of Cooper's writing.