THE SPY by James Fenimore Cooper. Saalfield 1936. Couse Illustrations. Fine condition.

James Fenimore Cooper (1789 – 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo. Among his most famous works were The Last of the Mohicans and The Deerslayer. He was also a political writer and entered many literary debates with Americans and Britons and often vilified other countries in thinly disguised scenarios in his novels.

The Spy was his second novel, published in 1821, and was set in 1778 Westchester County, New York. Harry Birch, the peddler spy is one of Cooper's best and most heroic story characters. At the time of the Revolutionary War he lived and worked in the ravaged area between the British troops in New York City and the American Forces in the Hudson River highlands. He was suspected by both forces of being an enemy spy. Reputed to be rich, he lived in poverty and maintained that he was only what he appeared to be: a peddler. Only his death revealed the part he played in the war.

Condition: Fine. No markings, tight, bright, and clean. Spine crack rear endpaper, but still intact and tight. All paper sepia coloured with age. Please view all photos as they give an accurate description of the wonderful condition of this collectible book.

Item ID: BB796