James Fenimore Cooper First Editions

• The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground — 1821 · Wiley & HalstedFirst edition, two volumes, published in New York by Wiley & Halsted on December 22, 1821; the title page credits the book only to "the author of Precaution," not to Cooper by name, since Cooper had not yet begun publishing under his own name. Volume one collates to xii + 251 pages and volume two to 286 pages. The defining point of issue, recorded in Spiller & Blackburn's descriptive bibliography of Cooper, is on…. The New York edition (Wiley & Halsted, December 22, 1821) is the true first, preceding the first English edition (G. and W. B. Whittaker, London, February 28, 1822) by more than two months; no earlier printing in any other country is recorded. Wiley's own 1822 and 1824 reprints used the same plates but added new prefaces, so they can be mistaken for the true first; Putnam's 1849 edition carries Cooper's own textual revisions, and later Townsend and other illustrated "household" editions from the 1850s onward add engravings and use imprints unrelated to Wiley & Halsted. None reproduce the original boards-and-label binding.
• The Pioneers, or The Sources of the Susquehanna — 1823 · Charles WileyFirst edition, two volumes, published in New York by Charles Wiley on February 1, 1823, the first of the Leatherstocking Tales in order of publication; reportedly some 3,500 copies sold within hours of release. Two states of volume one's preliminary leaves are recorded in Spiller & Blackburn's descriptive bibliography: the earlier state has "J. SEYMOUR, PRINTER" on the title page, with the copyright notice on…. The New York Wiley edition (February 1, 1823) precedes the first English edition (John Murray, London, February 26, 1823) by about three weeks; no earlier printing in any other country is recorded. The 1825 Collins & Hannay/Wiley reprint and the Carey, Lea & Carey Philadelphia editions beginning in 1827 reset the type for later numbered "editions"; none preserve the Seymour/Clayton title-page states, the page-329 margin numbering, or the original boards and paper labels of the true first printing.
• The Last of the Mohicans; A Narrative of 1757 — 1826 · Carey & LeaUS first, H. C. Carey & I. Lea, Philadelphia, 1826, 2 volumes, original boards with paper spine labels (BAL 3833; Grolier American 100, no. 34; Spiller & Blackburn 7). Verified first-state points in Volume I: page 89 misnumbered 93, and chapter XVI misnumbered XIV. Volume II first state ('State A') reads 'a Book' in the fifth line of the copyright notice. Confirm the 1826 imprint and the 2-volume boards with…. US first is the 2-volume Carey & Lea, Philadelphia, 1826, in boards. The London editions (John Miller, 3 vols.) are near-simultaneous; precedence is debated, but the Philadelphia Carey & Lea in boards is taken as the first. Later reprints lack the original boards and paper spine labels and the first-state misnumberings. The 2-volume 1826 Carey & Lea in boards, with the page the printed price and chapter XVI/XIV misnumberings and the Vol. II 'a Book' copyright reading, identifies the US first.
• The Red Rover: A Tale — 1827 · Henry ColburnThe earliest printing of the text is an English-language edition produced in Paris for the bookseller Hector Bossange, printed by Lachevardiere, title-paged 1827 with a wrapper dated 1828; although sometimes described as a French edition, its title page reads "THE RED ROVER, A TALE" in English, and it is distinct from "Le Corsaire rouge," the genuine French-language translation Charles Gosselin published…. Bossange's Paris printing was produced before the London edition and, per Spiller & Blackburn, is the earliest printing of the text; it is in English, not French, despite occasionally being mislabeled, and should not be confused with "Le Corsaire rouge," the true French-language translation Gosselin published separately. Henry Colburn's London edition (November 1827) is the first English-language trade edition,…. Cooper's own revised text appeared in Richard Bentley's 1834 "Standard Novels" edition, whose new preface admits the original "has been found to be full of errors, in style, orthography, and taste"; this and later Putnam and Stringer & Townsend reprints reset the type in uniform bindings and do not reproduce the 1827-28 boards-and-paper-label format of the first editions.
• The Water-Witch, or The Skimmer of the Seas — 1830 · Henry Colburn & Richard BentleyCooper, then living in Dresden, arranged for a small edition to be printed there in English by C. C. Meinhold & Sons for the bookseller Walther, issued shortly before September 18, 1830; this Continental printing preceded Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley's three-volume London edition of October 14, 1830, and the Philadelphia edition from Carey & Lea, released December 11, 1830 though dated 1831 on its title page.…. The Dresden printing (before September 18, 1830) is the true first printing of the text; Spiller & Blackburn call The Water-Witch "the only genuine Continental first" among Cooper's novels printed abroad, since it was actually issued for sale in Dresden about a month before the London edition and roughly three months before the first American edition. London (Colburn & Bentley, October 14, 1830) is the first…. Carey's 1838 and 1841 Philadelphia reprints, the 1849 Stringer & Townsend edition, and George Putnam's 1851 revised edition reset the type in uniform bindings without the advertisement-leaf states or the original blue-boards-and-label format of the 1830 Carey & Lea sheets, and none carry the "mnch" misprint.
• The Deerslayer, or The First War-Path — 1841 · Lea & BlanchardFirst edition, two volumes, published in Philadelphia by Lea & Blanchard on August 27, 1841 -- the fifth and final Leatherstocking Tale in order of publication, though first chronologically in the series' internal timeline. The London edition from Richard Bentley followed on September 7, 1841. The true first printing was produced by the Philadelphia printer I. Ashmead and stereotyped by J. Fagan; per Spiller &…. Philadelphia (Lea & Blanchard, August 27, 1841) precedes the first English edition (Richard Bentley, London, September 7, 1841) by eleven days; no earlier printing in any other country is recorded. The 1845 Lea & Blanchard reprint, the 1849 Stringer & Townsend edition (printed from the original plates), and George Putnam's 1850 author-revised "Leather-Stocking" series edition all differ from the true first printing in binding and, in Putnam's case, in text; none reproduce the original purple cloth and paper labels.

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