JAMES FENIMORE COOPER

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
(1789 - 1851) American novelist. When challenged by his wife to write, he created the classics 'The Last of the Mohicans' and 'The Deerslayer.' A.Ms. (unsigned), 1p., 7.25 in. x 3.25 in. [n.p.], [n.d.], a section of Cooper’s manuscript for 'Oak Openings, ' published in 1848. In part: 'Peter turned neither to the right hand nor to the left, until he had led the way down [upon the little] arena of bottom land, already described, and which was found well sprinkled with savages...Most lay extended at length on the green sward, in the indolent repose that is so grateful to an Indian warrior, in his hours of inaction...'There, ' said Peter, sternly, fastening his eye with a hostile expression on Bough of the Oak and Ungque, in particular--'There are your captives. Do with them as you will. As for them that have dared to question my faith, let them own that they are liars!' A notation in another hand to the lower right identifies the piece. Affixed to a slightly larger off-white card, toning throughout, and repairs to a few areas of paper loss also affecting a few words, otherwise fine condition. 'The Oak Openings' or 'The Bee Hunter' was an 1848 novel by Cooper. The novel focuses on the activities of professional honey-hunter Benjamin Boden, nicknamed ‘Ben Buzz’. The novel is set in Kalamazoo, Michigan's 'Oak Opening', a wooded prairie that still exists in part today, during the War of 1812.