“IT IS WISE TO BE SPARING OF OUR PLEDGES, AND TO SAY NO MORE THAN THE OCCASION REQUIRES”: FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER’S THE RED ROVER, 1828

COOPER, James Fenimore. The Red Rover, a Tale. By the Author of The Pilot, &c. &c. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, 1828. Two volumes. Small octavo, contemporary three-quarter brown calf rebacked. $1500.

First American edition of Cooper’s eighth novel, a marine adventure.

“Playfully challenged by his wife’s cousin to write a better book than one he was reading aloud, Cooper, after a false start, produced Precaution (1820), an imitation of an English novel of manners, which, though weak, brought him to the attention of the New York literary world” (ANB). First published in Paris in 1827. Bound without half-titles. With two pages of publisher’s advertisements at the rear of Volume II. Spiller & Blackburn A9. BAL 3839. Owner signature dated the year of publication in Volume II.

Occasional scattered light foxing to interiors; some staining to Volume I text, not affecting readability. Binding fine and handsome. Extremely good condition.