The Pathfinder: Or, The Inland Sea.

Philadelphia:: Lea and Blanchard,, 1840.. First US edition, first state. Rare.. 8vo. 2 vols.. Publishers original plum cloth, paper title labels rubbed away on spine, boards soiled, spines sunned, some minor corner bumping, minor foxing mostly to endpaperss. Vol.1 with modern ink note of author on title, both vols with contemporary old owners ink on first paste-down. Overall, text is clean and binding is tight, an excellent copy of a scarce and important set. In protective mylars. ÒIn 1831, James Fenimore Cooper told his publisher that he wanted to write a story set on Lake Ontario. The book was accepted, but with no hint that it would feature Natty Bumppo from the well-established Leather-Stocking Tales. The Pathfinder (1840) revisits NattyÕs military service, extending a story begun in The Last of the Mohicans, and introduces the complications of love against the backdrop of the French and Indian War. Wayne FranklinÕs introduction describes the personal and financial circumstances that led to CooperÕs resurrection of his most popular character, underscoring the authorÕs aim to offer Natty as a Pathfinder for a nation he feared had lost its moral bearings.Ó [-Harvard Univ. Press]. BAL: 3892. Wright I:656.