The Pioneers
by James Fenimore Cooper
Foreword by Nathaniel Waring Barnes
The Pioneers, published in 1823, was the first of James Fenimore Cooper’s five novels comprising the “Leatherstocking Tales” saga, although the time period in which the story is set makes it the fourth chronologically. The original edition was published as “The Pioneers, Or, The Sources of the Susquehanna, A Descriptive Tale.”
Set in 1793, the tale opens with a dispute between an elderly Natty Bumppo, called Leatherstocking in this story, and Judge Marmaduke Temple of Templeton over who killed a buck. Perhaps ahead of his time, Cooper explores the complex themes of land use and stewardship along the rapidly receding frontier in the vicinity of Lake Otsego, New York, and the relationship between the residents of the growing town and the earlier inhabitants of the frontier.
The building conflict between Leatherstocking and his close friend, the Mohican Indian Chingachgook on one side, and Judge Temple and the growing settlement on the other, provides the impetus for the story, which moves forward to its sadly inevitable conclusion against the backdrop of Cooper’s vivid depictions of a frontier which he personally saw vanishing in his youth.
Cooper grew up in Cooperstown, New York, founded by his father, a New Jersey congressman, and many have suggested that this tale is at least partially autobiographical, with the Judge and the character Elizabeth patterned after Cooper’s father and a sister. Cooper himself denied these assertions, stating that while the setting reflected his boyhood home the characters were fictional. He seems to have particularly resented the idea that Elizabeth was based on a favorite sister who died young, saying that patterning a fictional character after her would denigrate her memory.
This quality edition has been prepared by human editors and is not a machine-scanned reproduction of an old edition. It includes the complete text of the classic novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in 1823, in a freshly edited and newly formatted volume with a generous 6×9 page size and 10-point font, printed on heavyweight bright white paper with a fully laminated cover.
With the publication of “The Spy” in 1821, James Fenimore Cooper became an international figure and the first authentic American novelist, free of the forms and conventions of the British fiction of the day. With “The Leatherstocking Tales” he became the first great interpreter of the American experience, chronicling the adventures of the indomitable Natty Bumppo, known variously as “Hawkeye,” “Deerslayer,” “Pathfinder,” “Leatherstocking” and other names, from the colonial Indian wars through the early expansion into the vast western plains.
Published between 1823 and 1841, beginning with “The Pioneers” and ending with “The Deerslayer”, the tales are set against historical events ranging from 1740 to 1804, with Cooper taking some literary license with the actual chronology of events, probably to avoid having Bumppo ranging the Great Plains at over 90 years of age.
Product details
Publisher: Apex Publications, Independently published (June 2, 2024)
Language: English
Paperback: 324 pages
ISBN: 979-8327027459
Item Weight: 1.23 pounds
Dimensions: 6 x 0.73 x 9 inches
List Price: $13.97
