COOPER, James Fenimore (1789–1851). The Last of the Mohican...

2 volumes, 8vo (176 x 105 mm). BAL State A of the copyright notice in Vol. II (line 5: “a Book”). (Title–pages narrowly trimmed near head above printed title, light spotting throughout). Full speckled sheep, black leather lettering–pieces gilt (lacking title labels, first compartment chipped in Vol. II, some light wear to joints and extreme ends). Provenance: William Rotch (ownership signature dated 1869).

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION published one month before the English edition, and includes the following points: Vol. I, p. viii lacks final “i” in page number (no priority); Vol. I has pagination present on p. 71; p. 89 misnumbered 93; chapter heading on p. [243] has XIV for XVI. Vol. II lacks conjugate blank leaf with title-page (according to Blank, leaf was excised in some copies), and line 5 of Copyright notice, “a Book”, is in State A. “The most famous of the Leatherstocking Tales, and the first in which the scout Natty Bumppo was made the symbol of all that was wise, heroic and romantic in the lives and characters of the white men who made the American wilderness their home... The novel glorified for many generations of readers, in England, France, Russia, and at home, some aspects of American life that were unique to our cultural history” (Grolier, American 100). BAL 3833; Bennett, A Practical Guide to American Book Collecting pp. 8–9; Blanck, Peter Parley to Penrod p. 143; Grolier, American One Hundred 34; Reese, Struggle for North America One Hundred 96.