. One year course in English and American literature; an introduction to the chief authors in English and American literature, with reading lists and references for further study. o yearsold. In this little settlement, with forests all about, wherewild beasts and Indians werethe sole inhabitants, he grew toboyhood. He was sent to schoolat Albany, and later to independence of spirit whichearly showed itself led to hisdismissal from Yale for someslight offense. Desirous of anactive life, he went to sea, andlater obtained a place as midship-man in the navy. Then camemarriage and settling
. One year course in English and American literature; an introduction to the chief authors in English and American literature, with reading lists and references for further study. o yearsold. In this little settlement, with forests all about, wherewild beasts and Indians werethe sole inhabitants, he grew toboyhood. He was sent to schoolat Albany, and later to independence of spirit whichearly showed itself led to hisdismissal from Yale for someslight offense. Desirous of anactive life, he went to sea, andlater obtained a place as midship-man in the navy. Then camemarriage and settling down asa country gentleman in West-chester county, New York. One day while reading a poorEnglish novel he threw it down with the remark that hecould do better himself. His wife dared him to try, andhe set to work. The result was Precaution, a novel per-haps better than the English one, but quite inferior toCoopers later work. The scene of this story was laid inEngland. Coopers friends urged him to write a novel ofAmerican scenes and characters. They pointed out whatScott was doing for Scotland, and wished him to do a likeservice for America. So he took a story he had heard. 162 THE KNICKERBOCKER SCHOOL John Jay tell, and from it developed The Spy. The scenewas in Westchester county; the period that of the Revolu-tionary War. Before the story had been published threemonths it had gone into three editions, and had beendramatized. It was quickly reprinted in England andtranslated into French. There was no longer any doubtas to whether Cooper could write as good a novel as anEnglishman; the question was whether any Englishman,save Scott, could write as good a novel as Cooper. His next story was The Pioneers, in which he describedthe scenes of his childhood on Otsego Lake. The Pilot,like his first novel, was the result of an argument; hewrote it to show that the life of the sea had in it sufficientmaterial for fiction. He was a rapid worker, and composedthirty-two novels, in additio
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectenglishliterature
