Cooper’s novel of Columbus
Cooper, James Fenimore. Mercedes of Castile: or, the Voyage to Cathay
Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1840
Two volumes. Original purple muslin, printed paper spine labels. Spines sunned, rubbed labels stating “Cooper” in an early hand. Faint damp stain at end of vol 2. Slipcase. An excellent set.
Fine first American edition of Cooper’s historical novel about Christopher Columbus’s first voyage. The Coopers had returned to America in the 1830s, but James continued to explore European influences and settings.
Lea and Blanchard published this work in the year that they issued Poe’s first collection of fiction, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, which appeared in an identical binding.
Provenance: Orlie B. Manville, with his curious early bookplate, Helen F. Mathies, George F. Clarke (bookplates).
BAL 3893.
$600