The Last of the Mohicans

458 Pages·2009·4.319 MB·English

by  James Fenimore Cooper, Paul C. Gutjahr

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This electronic material is under
copyright protection and is
provided to a single recipient
for review purposes only.
THE LAST OF
THE MOHICANS
A First Modern English Edition of
Les Évangiles des Quenouilles
broadview editions
series editor: L.W. Conolly
THEDISTAFFGOSPELS 1
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Miles Franklin,2 April 1898.Used by permission of the Mitchell
Library,State Library of New South Wales.
2 THEDISTAFFGOSPELS
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THE LAST OF
THE MOHICANS;
A Narrative of 1757
James Fenimore Cooper
Les Évangiles des Quenouilles
translated by Thomas K.Abbott
with revisions by Lara Denis
edited by Paul C.Gutjahr
broadview editions
THEDISTAFFGOSPELS 3
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©2009 Paul C.Gutjahr
All rights reserved.The use of any part of this publication reproduced,transmitted in
any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or other-
wise,or stored in a retrieval system,without prior written consent of the publisher—
or in the case of photocopying,a licence from Access Copyright (Canadian Copyright
Licensing Agency),One Yonge Street,Suite 1900,Toronto,Ontario M5E 1E5—is an
infringement of the copyright law.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Cooper,James Fenimore,1789-1851
The last of the Mohicans :a narrative of 1757 / James Fenimore Cooper ;edited
by Paul C.Gutjahr.
(Broadview editions)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-55111-866-6
I.Gutjahr,Paul C. II. Title.
PS1408.A2G87 2009 813′.2 C2008-907639-7
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For
Alex Van Riesen
Freshman roommate,fellow traveler,faithful friend
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Contents
Acknowledgements (cid:127) 9
Maps (cid:127) 10
Introduction (cid:127) 13
James Fenimore Cooper:A Brief Chronology (cid:127) 27
ANote on the Text (cid:127) 31
The Last of the Mohicans (cid:127) 33
Preface (cid:127) 35
Volume I (cid:127) 43
Volume II (cid:127) 223
Appendix A:Illustrations (cid:127) 399
Appendix B:Cooper’s Historical Sources (cid:127) 405
1. From John Gottlieb Heckewelder,History,Manners
and Customs of the Indian Nations (1876) (cid:127) 405
2. From Jonathan Carver,Travels Through the Interior
Parts of North America in the Years 1766,1767,and 1768
(1781) (cid:127) 412
3. From Benjamin Silliman,A Short Tour Between
Hartford and Quebec (1824) (cid:127) 420
Appendix C:Recollections and Appraisals ofCooper (cid:127) 424
1. From the United States Literary Gazette(May 1826) (cid:127) 424
2. From the Literary Gazette and Journal of the Belles
Lettres(April 1826) (cid:127) 427
3. From W.H.Gardiner,North American Review(1826) (cid:127) 427
4. From William Cullen Bryant,“Discourse on the Life,
Genius,and Writings of J.Fenimore Cooper”(1852) (cid:127) 433
5. From Susan Fenimore Cooper,Pages and Pictures,
from the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper(1861) (cid:127) 437
6. From Mark Twain,“Fenimore Cooper’s Further
Literary Offenses,”The New England Quarterly
(c.1895) (cid:127) 441
Appendix D:The Cherokee Removal (cid:127) 449
1. The United States Congress’s Indian Removal Act
(1830) (cid:127) 449
2. From Andrew Jackson’s Second State of the Union
Address (1830) (cid:127) 451
Select Bibliography (cid:127) 455
THEROMANCEOFASHOP 7
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8 CONTENTS
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Acknowledgements
Putting together an edition such as this one is never a solitary
endeavor.I have had many wonderful collaborators and encour-
agers along the way.Without Cindy Weinstein this book would
have never seen the light of day;it was she who first encouraged
me to approach Broadview Press.Wayne Franklin, perhaps the
greatest scholar of Cooper alive today, continues to be a treas-
ured guide in my scholarly endeavors. In Jonathan Elmer and
Christoph Irmscher I have two wonderful departmental col-
leagues who offered countless insights to make this a better
edition. Mary Favret helped me with French, while Joan Pong
Linton lent her aid and expertise when it came to Shakespeare.
Steve Davis was both a tireless and keenly intelligent research
assistant.David Nordloh has long served as an inspiring mentor
through his friendship and deep love of nineteenth-century
American literature.
As always,my family has been the foundation upon which this
work,and indeed all my work,is built.My parents and my sister,
Karen, remain my life’s best models of selfless generosity and
kindness.My wife,Cathy,and my sons,Isaac and Jeremiah,con-
tinue to be the sources of my greatest joy and inspiration.
I also acknowledge the kind permission of The New England
Quarterlyin allowing me to reprint Bernard De Voto’s recovery of
Mark Twain’s “Fenimore Cooper’s Further Literary Offenses”
(The New England Quarterly19.3 [Sept.1946] 293–301).
Finally,I dedicate this volume to Alex Van Riesen.For over a
quarter of a century,Alex has stood by me in every vicissitude of
life. Over the years we have taken college classes together,
pursued similar then different careers,been in each other’s wed-
dings, seen each other’s children born then grow older, and
shared the burden of burying loved ones.Without taking much
time to notice it, we have grown old together. Natty tells Chin-
gachgook at the end of The Last of the Mohicans, “God has so
placed us to journey in the same path.” May God grant us
another quarter-century of enjoying the journey together.
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Maps
10 MAPS