Other editions of book Pathfinder; or, the inland sea

The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea is a historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in 1840. It is the fourth novel Cooper wrote featuring Natty Bumppo, his fictitious frontier hero, and the third chronological episode of the Leatherstocking Tales. The inland sea of the title is Lake Ontario.PlotThe Pathfinder shows Natty at his old trick of guiding tender damsels through the dangerous woods, and the siege at the blockhouse and the storm on Lake Ontario are considerably like other of Cooper's sieges and storms. Natty, in this novel commonly called the Pathfinder, keeps in a hardy middle age his simple and honest nature, which is severely tested by his love for a nineteen year old young woman. She is a conventional heroine of romance. A certain soft amiability about her turns for a time all the thoughts of the scout to the world of domestic affections. More talkative than ever before, he reveals new mental and moral traits. With the same touch of realism which had kept Uncas and Cora apart in The Last of the Mohicans, Cooper separates these lovers, and sends Natty's romantic interest to the arms of a younger suitor, restoring the hero to his home in the wilderness...James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century. His historical romances draw a picture of frontier and American Indian life in the early American days which created a unique form of American literature. He lived most of his life in Cooperstown, New York, which was founded by his father William on property that he owned. Cooper was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church and contributed generously to it.He attended Yale University for three years, where he was a member of the Linonian Society.Cooper served in the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, which greatly influenced many of his novels and other writings. The novel that launched his career was The Spy, a tale about counter-espionage set during the American Revolutionary War and published in 1821.He also wrote numerous sea stories, and his best-known works are five historical novels of the frontier period known as the Leatherstocking Tales. Cooper's works on the U.S. Navy have been well received among naval historians, but they were sometimes criticized by his contemporaries. Among his most famous works is the Romantic novel The Last of the Mohicans, often regarded as his masterpiece,,(although it was mercilessly mocked by Mark Twain).

... The quick eye of the Tuscarora instantly caught a sight of the smoke, and for quite a minute he stood, slightly raised on tiptoe, with distended nostrils, like the buck that scents a taint in the air, and a gaze as riveted as that of a trained pointer, while he waits his master’s aim. Then, falling back on his feet, a low exclamation, in the soft tones that form so singular a contrast to its harsher cries in the Indian warrior’s voice, was barely audible ; otherwise, he was undisturbed. His countenance was calm, and his quick, dark eagle-eye moved over the leafy panorama, as if to take in at a glance every circumstance that might enlighten his mind. That the long journey they had attempted to make through a broad belt of wilderness, was necessarily attended with danger, both uncle and niece well knew ; though neither could at once determine whether the sign that others were in their vicinity, was the harbinger of good or evil. “ There must be ...

The Leatherstocking Tales is a collection of five historical novels written by James Fenimore Cooper. The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea is chronologically the third book. The action continues to center around Natty Bumppo as he guides women through some dangerous woods. The book is also notable for being the only one in the series that features a love interest for Natty. James Fenimore Cooper was one of the most popular American authors in the early 19th century. Cooper wrote many historical romances that depicted frontier and Indian life. Cooper also served in the U.S. Navy and many of his books were based off his experiences. Cooper's most famous books are the five novels that form The Leatherstocking Tales, especially The Last of the Mohicans which is considered to be his masterpiece.

This collector-quality edition includes the complete text of James Fenimore Cooper's classic tale of romance and adventure along the colonial Canadian frontier in a freshly edited and newly typeset edition. With a large 7.44"x9.69" page size, this Summit Classic edition is printed on hefty bright white paper with a fully laminated cover featuring an original full color design. Page headers and proper placement of footnotes exemplify the attention to detail given this volume. "The Pathfinder" was published in 1840, the fourth published of Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales" saga. Chronologically, it is set after "The Last of the Mohicans" and before "The Pioneers" and thus third in the series. Sent on a secret mission to a British fortress hidden among the Thousand Islands of Canadian Lake Ontario, Cooper's indomitable frontier hero, Natty Bumppo, sometimes called Hawkeye or Deerslayer, is known in this tale as the Pathfinder, guiding his companions on the perilous journey to Lake Ontario, "inland sea" of the novel's subtitle. Against the background of Cooper's vivid descriptions of the frontier and the wilderness, the Pathfinder and his loyal friend Chingachgook protect the lovely Mabel Dunham, lead the party through a series of forest skirmishes, flights and escapes, and ferret out a traitor. Along the way the Pathfinder and his party ride out a storm on the lake, battle Iroquois on the Oswego River, and navigate a birch-bark canoe over a waterfall. As in many of Cooper's historical novels, a subplot of the book is a romance, this time involving the Pathfinder, Mabel and a handsome young lake captain, Jasper Western. With the publication of "The Spy" in 1821, James Fenimore Cooper became an international figure and the first authentic American novelist, free of the forms and conventions of the British fiction of the day. With "The Leatherstocking Tales" he became the first great interpreter of the American experience, chronicling the adventures of the indomitable Natty Bumppo, known variously as "Hawkeye," "Deerslayer," "Pathfinder," "Leatherstocking" and other names, from the colonial Indian wars through the early expansion into the vast western plains. Published between 1823 and 1841, beginning with "The Pioneers" and ending with "The Deerslayer", the tales are set against historical events ranging from 1740 to 1804, with Cooper taking some literary license with the actual chronology of events, probably to avoid having Bumppo ranging the Great Plains at over 90 years of age. This edition of "The Pathfinder" is the fourth volume in a new series of the complete Leatherstocking Tales released by Summit Classic Press.

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