The Pathfinder
by James Fenimore Cooper
Foreword by Nathaniel Waring Barnes
“The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea” was published in 1840, the fourth published of Cooper’s “Leatherstocking Tales” saga. Chronologically, it is set after “The Last of the Mohicans” and before “The Pioneers” and thus third in the series.
Sent on a secret mission to a British fortress hidden among the Thousand Islands of Canadian Lake Ontario, Cooper’s indomitable frontier hero, Natty Bumppo, sometimes called Hawkeye or Deerslayer, is known in this tale as the Pathfinder, guiding his companions on the perilous journey to Lake Ontario, the “inland sea” of the novel’s original subtitle.
Against the background of Cooper’s vivid descriptions of the frontier and the wilderness, the Pathfinder and his loyal friend Chingachgook protect the lovely Mabel Dunham, lead the party through a series of forest skirmishes, flights and escapes, and ferret out a traitor. Along the way the Pathfinder and his party ride out a storm on the lake, battle Iroquois on the Oswego River, and navigate a birch-bark canoe over a waterfall. As in many of Cooper’s historical novels, a subplot of the book is a romance, this time involving the Pathfinder, Mabel and a handsome young lake captain, Jasper Western.
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 1840, 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 (May 28, 2024)
Language: English
Paperback: 335 pages
ISBN: 979-8326593405
Item Weight: 1.27 pounds
Dimensions: 6 x 0.76 x 9 inches
List Price: $13.97
