The New Student's Reference Work/Cooper, James Fenimore

JAMES F. COOPER

Cooper, James Fenimore, American novelist, was born at Burlington, N. J., Sept. 15, 1789. After three years at Yale he entered the navy, rising to the rank of lieutenant. His first novel was a failure; but in 1821 The Spy made him popular. Following this came The Pioneers, the first of the famous Leather-Stocking Tales. In 1823 appeared The Pilot, the earliest of his sea-tales. Throughout his life he was a busy writer, now correcting the false impressions of his country which he found current in Europe, now writing a novel to give expression to his views of politics, now ridiculing his countrymen's faults and anon bringing out sketches of travel. But his fame rests on his early novels, the best of which have been translated into most of the languages of Europe and into some of those of the east. He, practically, was the first American in American literature. He died Sept. 14, 1851.