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The Old Curiosity Shop: Cooper

COOPER TO James Fenimore Cooper's boyhood may be traced his genius for picturing primeval forests and adventures alive with thrill. Son of a hardy and vigorous pioneer, he lived by a rushing stream at the very edge of a deep, mysterious wilderness, in which lurked wild men and wild beasts. About the great roaring fire in his father's hospitable hall sat men of indomitable will and daring. They had grappled with nature and with men in their most primitive ferocity. They told true but lurid tales of doings that profoundly stirred the child's imagination. These men risked death and torture to carry on the life of their new country; so the boy James was saturated with that patriotism which vividly rings through his life and characterizes so clearly his writings. Small wonder is it that this child later set himself the task of describing the frontier scenes of his native land, and achieved the famous "Leatherstocking Tales" which have kindled the hearts of so many adventure-loving boys. Of these "The Pathfinder" and "Deerslayer" seemed to Cooper himself his best novels. They were both violently assailed when they first appeared, because their author had created so much personal hostility. Nevertheless, they had large sales, and of "The Pathfinder" no less a personage than Balzac writes: "It is beautiful, it is grand. Its interest is tremendous. I know no one in the world save Walter Scott who has risen to that grandeur and serenity of colors. Never did the art of writing tread closer upon the art of the pencil."

The early influences of Cooper's life probably led also to the activities of his last years, when he devoted himself to vast agricultural experiments. His father had helped to conquer the forest; he set himself to conquer the soil.