Leatherstocking Tales

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Cover illustration by Carl Offterdinger for a German youth edition of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales Cooper-Offterdinger.jpg
Cover illustration by Carl Offterdinger for a German youth edition of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales
1989 USSR stamp, on themes of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales 1989 CPA 6128-6132 Strip.jpg
1989 USSR stamp, on themes of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales

The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of five novels ( The Deerslayer , The Last of the Mohicans , The Pathfinder , The Pioneers , and The Prairie ) by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, set in the eighteenth-century era of development in the primarily former Iroquois areas in central New York. [1] [2] Each novel features Natty Bumppo, a frontiersman known to European-American settlers as "Leatherstocking", [3] "The Pathfinder", [4] and "the trapper". [5] Native Americans call him "Deerslayer", [6] "La Longue Carabine" ("Long Rifle" in French), [7] and "Hawkeye". [8]

Contents

Publication history

Publication history [9] [10]
Publication
date
Story
dates
TitleSubtitle
1841
1740–1755
The Deerslayer The First War Path
1826
1757
The Last of the Mohicans A Narrative of 1757
1840
1758–1759
The Pathfinder The Inland Sea
1823
1793
The Pioneers The Sources of the Susquehanna; A Descriptive Tale
1827
1804
The Prairie A Tale

The story dates are derived from dates given in the tales and span the period roughly of 1740–1806. They do not necessarily correspond with the actual dates of the historical events described in the series, which discrepancies Cooper likely introduced for the sake of convenience. For instance, Cooper manipulated time to avoid making Leatherstocking 100 years old when he traveled to the Kansas plains in The Prairie. [11] [12]

The Natty Bumppo character is generally believed to be inspired, at least in part, by the historic explorer Daniel Boone or the lesser known David Shipman. [13] [ page needed ] Critic Georg Lukacs likened Bumppo to Sir Walter Scott's "middling characters; because they do not represent the extremes of society, these figures can serve as tools for the social and cultural exploration of historical events, without directly portraying the history itself. [14]

  1. Homeward Bound: or The Chase: A Tale of the Sea (1838) - The Effingham family, descendants of Oliver Effingham of The Pioneers, return home from Europe. Set in the Atlantic Ocean and the North African coast in 1835.
  2. Home as Found (1838) - Eve Effingham and her family encounter a social world new to them in New York City and Templeton (Cooperstown), New York in 1835.

Characters

Adaptations

Several films have been adapted from one or more of this series of Cooper's novels. Some used one of Bumppo's nicknames, most often Hawkeye, to identify this character, e.g., in:

Two Canadian TV series were based on the character of Leatherstocking:

WQED (TV) Pittsburgh's Once Upon A Classic children's television series produced a four-episode adaptation entitled Leatherstocking Tales (1979), which won one Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series and was nominated for another for writing. The main character's name is Natty Bumppo, though other nicknames appear.

Related Research Articles

<i>The Last of the Mohicans</i> (1920 American film) 1920 film by Maurice Tourneur, Clarence Brown

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1920 American silent adventure drama film written by Robert A. Dillon, adapted from James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel of the same name. Clarence Brown and Maurice Tourneur co-directed the film. It is a story of two English sisters meeting danger on the frontier of the American colonies, in and around the fort commanded by their father. The adventure film stars Wallace Beery, Barbara Bedford, Lillian Hall, Alan Roscoe and Boris Karloff in one of his earliest silent film roles. Barbara Bedford later married her co-star in the film, Alan Roscoe in real life. The production was shot near Big Bear Lake and in Yosemite Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Fenimore Cooper</span> American writer (1789–1851)

James Fenimore Cooper was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonial and indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought him fame and fortune. He lived much of his boyhood and the last fifteen years of life in Cooperstown, New York, which was founded by his father William Cooper on property that he owned. Cooper became a member of the Episcopal Church shortly before his death and contributed generously to it. He attended Yale University for three years, where he was a member of the Linonian Society.

<i>The Last of the Mohicans</i> 1826 historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper

The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 is a historical romance novel written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826. It is the second book of the Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. The Pathfinder, published 14 years later in 1840, is its sequel; its prequel, The Deerslayer, was published a year after The Pathfinder. The Last of the Mohicans is set in 1757, during the French and Indian War, when France and Great Britain battled for control of North America. During this war, both the French and the British used Native American allies, but the French were particularly dependent, as they were outnumbered in the Northeast frontier areas by the British. Specifically, the events of the novel are set immediately before, during, and after the Siege of Fort William Henry.

<i>The Pioneers</i> (novel) 1823 historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper

The Pioneers, or The Sources of the Susquehanna; a Descriptive Tale is a historical novel by American writer James Fenimore Cooper. It was the first of five novels published which became known as the Leatherstocking Tales. Published in 1823, The Pioneers is the fourth novel in terms of the chronology of the novels' plots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chingachgook</span> Fictional character

Chingachgook is a fictional character in four of James Fenimore Cooper's five Leatherstocking Tales, including his 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans. Chingachgook was a lone Mohican chief and companion of the series' hero, Natty Bumppo. In The Deerslayer, Chingachgook married Wah-ta-Wah, who had a son with him named Uncas, but died while she was still young. Uncas, who was at his birth "last of the Mohicans", grew to manhood but was killed in a battle with the Huron warrior Magua. Chingachgook died as an old man in the novel The Pioneers, which makes him the actual "last of the Mohicans," having outlived his son.

<i>The Last of the Mohicans</i> (1992 film) 1992 film by Michael Mann

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1992 American epic historical action drama film directed by Michael Mann, who co-wrote the screenplay with Christopher Crowe, based on the 1826 novel of the same name by James Fenimore Cooper and its 1936 film adaptation. The film is set in 1757 during the French and Indian War. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, and Jodhi May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capture and rescue of Jemima Boone</span> Incident in the colonial history of Kentucky

The capture and rescue of Jemima Boone and the Callaway girls is a famous incident in the colonial history of Kentucky. Three girls were captured by a Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party on July 14, 1776, and rescued three days later by Daniel Boone and his party, celebrated for their success. The incident was portrayed in 19th-century literature and paintings: James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826) and Charles Ferdinand Wimar painted The Abduction of Boone's Daughter by the Indians.

<i>The Deerslayer</i> 1841 Book by James Fenimore Cooper

The Deerslayer, or The First War-Path (1841) was James Fenimore Cooper's last novel in his Leatherstocking Tales. Its 1740–1745 time period makes it the first installment chronologically and in the lifetime of the hero of the Leatherstocking tales, Natty Bumppo. The novel's setting on Otsego Lake in central, upstate New York, is the same as that of The Pioneers, the first of the Leatherstocking Tales to be published (1823). The Deerslayer is considered to be the prequel to the rest of the series. Fenimore Cooper begins his work by relating the astonishing advance of civilization in New York State, which is the setting of four of his five Leatherstocking Tales.

<i>The Last of the Mohicans</i> (1932 serial) 1932 film

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1932 American pre-Code Mascot movie serial based on the 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.

<i>The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea</i> 1840 historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper

The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea is a historical novel by American author James Fenimore Cooper, first published in 1840. It is the fourth novel Cooper wrote featuring Natty Bumppo, his fictitious frontier hero, and the third chronological episode of the Leatherstocking Tales. The inland sea of the title is Lake Ontario.

<i>The Prairie</i> 1827 novel by James Fenimore Cooper

The Prairie: A Tale (1827) is a novel by James Fenimore Cooper, the third novel written by him featuring Natty Bumppo. His fictitious frontier hero Bumppo is never called by his name, but is instead referred to as "the trapper" or "the old man". Chronologically The Prairie is the fifth and final installment of the Leatherstocking Tales, though it was published before The Pathfinder (1840) and The Deerslayer (1841). It depicts Natty in the final year of his life, still proving helpful to people in distress on the American frontier. The book frequently references characters and events from the two books previously published in the Leatherstocking Tales as well as the two which Cooper would not write for more than ten years. Continuity with The Last of the Mohicans is indicated by the appearance of the grandson of Duncan and Alice Heyward, as well as the noble Pawnee chief Hard Heart, whose name is English for the French nickname for the Delaware, le Coeur-dur.

<i>The Last of the Mohicans</i> (1936 film) 1936 film

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1936 American historical western adventure film directed by George B. Seitz and starring Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes and Henry Wilcoxon. The screenplay by Philip Dunne was based on the 1826 novel of the same name by James Fenimore Cooper. It was produced by Edward Small and distributed by United Artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natty Bumppo</span> Fictional character created by James Fenimore Cooper

Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is a fictional character and the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales.

<i>Precaution</i> Novel by James Fenimore Cooper

Precaution (1820) is the first novel by American author James Fenimore Cooper.

The Deerslayer and Chingachgook is the feature-length first part of the two-part 1920 German silent Western film Lederstrumpf (Leatherstocking), directed by Arthur Wellin and featuring Bela Lugosi. It is based on the 1841 novel The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper. The second part is called The Last of the Mohicans.

The Last of the Mohicans is the feature-length second part of the 1920 German silent Western film Lederstrumpf (Leatherstocking) directed by Arthur Wellin and featuring Bela Lugosi and Emil Mamalock. Bela Lugosi played the Indian Chingachgook, one of his most unusual roles, and Emil Mamalock played Hawkeye, the Deerslayer. It is based on James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel of the same name. The first part is The Deerslayer and Chingachgook.

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1971 BBC serial, based on the 1826 novel of the same name by James Fenimore Cooper, directed by David Maloney.

<i>Hawkeye</i> (TV series) Television series

Hawkeye is a television series, airing in syndication for one season during 1994–1995, and produced by Stephen J. Cannell. The series was filmed in North Vancouver and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1968 internationally co-produced Western film, co-directed by Jean Dréville, Pierre Gaspard-Huit and Sergiu Nicolaescu. It was the second episode of the European TV miniseries Leatherstocking Tales.

<i>Lederstrumpfbrunnen</i>

The Lederstrumpfbrunnen is a fountain in the German city of Edenkoben. It commemorates the frontiersman Johann Adam Hartmann (1748-1836), who was born in this city and considered by some as a possible inspiration for the character Natty Bumppo of the Leatherstocking Tales novels by the American writer James Fenimore Cooper.

References

  1. Franklin, Wayne, James Fenimore Cooper: the Early Years; Yale University Press; New Haven, Connecticut: 2007. 752 p. 03001080528
  2. Franklin, Wayne, James Fenimore Cooper: the Later Years; Yale University Press; New Haven, Connecticut: 2017. 840 p. 030013571
  3. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Prairie: A Tale; Easton Press; Limited edition; Norwalk, Connecticut: 1968.
  4. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Pathfinder: Or The Inland Sea; Penguin Classics; London: 1989. 512 p. ISBN   0-14-039071-5
  5. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Prairie: A Tale; Easton Press; Limited edition; Norwalk, Connecticut: 1968.
  6. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Deerslayer: The First War Path; Wordsworth Classics; Hertfordshire, England: 1998. 423 p. ISBN   1-85326-552-7
  7. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Last of the Mohicans: A Tale of 1757; Bantam Classics; New York: 1982. 432 p. ISBN   0-12-000030-X
  8. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Deerslayer: The First War Path; Wordsworth Classics; Hertfordshire, England: 1998. 423 p. ISBN   1-85326-552-7
  9. Franklin, Wayne, James Fenimore Cooper: the Early Years; Yale University Press; New Haven, Connecticut: 2007. 752 p. 0300108052
  10. Franklin, Wayne, James Fenimore Cooper: the Later Years; Yale University Press; New Haven, Connecticut: 2017. 840 p. 0300135718
  11. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Prairie: A Tale; Easton Press; Limited edition; Norwalk, Connecticut: 1968.
  12. Franklin, Wayne, James Fenimore Cooper: the Later Years; Yale University Press; New Haven, Connecticut: 2017. 840 p. 0300135718
  13. Taylor, Alan. William Cooper's Town .
  14. Lukacs 69-72
  15. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Deerslayer: The First War Path; Wordsworth Classics; Hertfordshire, England: 1998. 423 p. ISBN   1-85326-552-7
  16. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Deerslayer: The First War Path; Wordsworth Classics; Hertfordshire, England: 1998. 423 p. ISBN   1-85326-552-7
  17. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Last of the Mohicans: A Tale of 1757; Bantam Classics; New York: 1982. 432 p. ISBN   0-12-000030-X
  18. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Pathfinder: Or The Inland Sea; Penguin Classics; London: 1989. 512 p. ISBN   0-14-039071-5
  19. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Pioneers: The Sources of the Susquehanna; A Descriptive Tale; Penguin Classics; London: 1988. 460 p. ISBN   0-14-039007-3
  20. Cooper, James Fenimore; The Prairie: A Tale; Easton Press; Limited edition; Norwalk, Connecticut: 1968.
  21. James Fenimore Cooper Society's online plot summaries of the chronologically first (The Deerslayer)
  22. The Prairie novels, indicating the initial and final years of the Leatherstocking saga
  23. The Pioneers
  24. "Uncas will be the last pure-blooded Mohican because there are no pure-blooded Mohican women for him to marry." University of Houston study guide
  25. Chief Uncas
  26. "Silent Era: Progressive Silent Film List".

Works cited

Original works

Further reading