James Fenimore Cooper
1 book in the library
James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) was an American novelist, born in Burlington, New Jersey, and raised in Cooperstown, New York, the frontier settlement founded by his father. After being dismissed from Yale, he served at sea and as a midshipman in the United States Navy. He began writing almost by chance, reportedly after telling his wife he could write a better novel than the one he was reading. His second book, The Spy (1821), was a success, and The Pioneers (1823) introduced the frontiersman Natty Bumppo, hero of the five Leatherstocking Tales, which include The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840) and The Deerslayer (1841). He also wrote sea novels and social criticism, and lived in Europe for several years. One of the first American novelists to win an international readership, he died in Cooperstown in 1851.
