James Fenimore Cooper

Name: The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition
Author: James Fenimore Cooper

The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (1823)

Summary

“The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition”, published in 1823, is a work by James Fenimore Cooper. It explores elements such as New York, Otsego and Susquehanna.

Quotes from The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (James Fenimore Cooper)

James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (1823)

“ This rigid adhesion to truth, an indispensable requisite in history and travels, destroys the charm of fiction; for all that is necessary to be conveyed to the mind by the latter had better be done by delineations of principles, and of characters in their classes, than by a too fastidious attention to originals.
New York having but one county of Otsego, and the Susquehanna but one proper source, there can be no mistake as to the site of the tale. The history of this district of country, so far as it is connected with civilized men, is soon told. ”

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Source: Wikisource

James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (1823)

“ The physician with his theory, rather obtained from than corrected by experiments on the human constitution; the pious, self- denying, laborious, and ill-paid missionary; the half-educated, litigious, envious, and disreputable lawyer, with his counterpoise, a brother of the profession, of better origin and of better character; the shiftless, bargaining, discontented seller of his "betterments;" the plausible carpenter, and most of the others, are more familiar to all who have ever dwelt in a new country. ”

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Source: Wikisource

James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (1823)

“ Had he drawn still more upon fancy, the lovers of fiction would not have so much cause for their objections to his work. Still, the picture would not have been in the least true without some substitutes for most of the other personages. The great proprietor resident on his lands, and giving his name to instead of receiving it from his estates as in Europe, is common over the whole of New York. ”

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Source: Wikisource

James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (1823)

“ It lies among those low spurs of the Alleghanies which cover the midland counties of New York, and it is a little east of a meridional line drawn through the centre of the State. As the waters of New York flow either southerly into the Atlantic or northerly into Ontario and its outlet, Otsego Lake, being the source of the Susquehanna, is of necessity among its highest lands. The face of the country, the climate as it was found by the whites, and the manners of the settlers, are described with a minuteness for which the author has no other apology than the force of his own recollections. ”

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Source: Wikisource

James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (1823)

“ In order to prevent mistake, it may be well to say that the incidents of this tale are purely a fiction. The literal facts are chiefly connected with the natural and artificial objects and the customs of the inhabitants. ”

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Source: Wikisource

James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (1823)

“ The Susquehanna, a narrow though rapid stream at its source, was much filled with "flood wood," or fallen trees; and the troops adopted a novel expedient to facilitate their passage. The Otsego is about nine miles in length, varying in breadth from half a mile to a mile and a half. The water is of great depth, limpid, and supplied from a thousand springs. At its foot the banks are rather less than thirty feet high the remainder of its margin being in mountains, intervals, and points. ”

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Source: Wikisource

James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (1823)

“ It is scarcely possible to describe two females of the same class in life who would be less alike, personally, than Elizabeth Temple and the sister of the author who met with the deplorable fate mentioned. ”

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Source: Wikisource

James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (1823)

“ Be that as it may, the author was brought an infant into this valley, and all his first impressions were here obtained. He has inhabited it ever since, at intervals; and he thinks he can answer for the faithfulness of the picture he has drawn. Otsego has now become one of the most populous districts of New York. It sends forth its emigrants like any other old region, and it is pregnant with industry and enterprise. ”

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Source: Wikisource

James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (1823)

“ Even the innocent deer is rarely seen bounding beneath their arches; for the rifle and the activity of the settlers hare driven them to other haunts. To this change (which in some particulars is melancholy to one who knew the country in its infancy) , it may be added that the Otsego is beginning to be a niggard of its treasures. [Cooper's Note] The author has elsewhere said that the character of Leather-Stocking is a creation, rendered probable by such auxiliaries as were necessary to produce that effect. ”

James Fenimore Cooper

Summary

Quotes from The Pioneers — Introduction to the 1832 edition (James Fenimore Cooper)

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