BAUMAN RARE BOOKS 14 15COOPER, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans; A Narrative of 1757. Philadelphia, 1826. Two volumes. 12mo, original brown paper-covered boards rebacked, custom clamshell box. $19,500 Scarce first edition, first issue of Cooper’s classic tale, one of the highlights of early American literature, in original boards. “This is the most famous of the Leatherstocking Tales, and the first in which the scout Natty Bumppo was made the symbol of all that was wise, heroic and romantic in the lives and characters of the white men who made the American wilderness their home… The novel glorified for many generations of readers, in England, France, Russia, and at home, some aspects of American life that were unique to our cultural history” (Grolier American 100 34). “The real triumph of Cooper is the variety of his invention, the power with which, isolating his few characters in the wilderness, he contrives to fill their existences, at least for the time being, with enough actions, desires, fears, victories, defeats, sentiments, thoughts to make the barren frontier seem a splendid stage” (DAB). First issue, with page 89 misnumbered 93, Chapter XVI numbered XIV in Volume I (page 243), and page vii correctly numbered. BAL 3833. Interior foxed, as usual, light dampstaining to a few leaves near the beginning of Volume I; minor soiling to expertly rebacked original boards. A handsome copy. “How All His Pages Glow With Creative Fire!” (Balzac)
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