The Deerslayer, Cooper’s “masterpiece” (ANB)
Cooper, James Fenimore. The Deerslayer: or, the First War-Path. A Tale.
Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1841
Two volumes. Original purple muslin, printed paper spine label. Minimal fading and rubbing, light browning, small paper flaw to front free endpaper in first volume. A very fine set.
First edition of the final novel in Cooper’s Leatherstocking series, considered by many to be called Cooper’s greatest work and hailed by D. H. Lawrence as “a gem of a book.” This final installment in the saga of the life of Natty Bumppo is a prequel, relating an episode from the famous protagonist’s youth. Spiller and Blackburn state that this edition predates the first English edition; BAL remains non-committal on priority.
This is a splendid copy with an outstanding provenance.
Provenance: Mildred Greenhill, Chicago book collector (bookplate) – H. Bradley Martin (his sale, Sotheby’s New York, 31 January 1990, lot 2016).
BAL 3895; Spiller and Blackburn p. 113
$4,500