J. Fenimore Cooper — The Deerslayer a Tale

London , Richard Bentley, 1841. First edition. Leather. The first UK edition of this novel by J. Fenimore Cooper. The Deerslayer, or The First Warpath (1841) was the last of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking tales to be written. Its 1740-1745 time period makes it the first installment chronologically and in the lifetime of the hero of the Leatherstocking tales, Natty Bumppo. The novel's setting on Otsego Lake in central, upstate New York, is the same as that of The Pioneers, the first of the Leatherstocking tales to be published (1823). The Deerslayer is considered to be the prequel to the rest of the Leatherstocking tales. Fenimore Cooper begins his work by relating the astonishing advance of civilization in New York State, which is the setting of four of his five Leatherstocking tales. All half-titles present. Complete in three volumes. Rebound in quarter-crushed-morocco bindings with handwritten spine labels. Externally smart, with just a few marks. Internally, generally firmly bound, though with some pages working loose. Some pages have been expertly repaired, though there are still some closed tears in places. Pages have some foxing and handling marks throughout. Good Only . Ill.: None. Good Only .