Quarto
Collation: Two volumes. Volume I: 1 l., xlii, 498, xlix pp. Volume II: 2 ll., 348, vii, 311 pp. Seven portraits. Six plates.
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
(1789-1851)
76. The Last | Of | The Mohicans; | A Narrative Of | 1757. | By The Author Of "The Pioneers." [Quotation] In Two Volumes. | Vol. I. | Philadelphia: | H. C. Carey & I. Lea—Chestnut-Street. | 1826.
The Pioneers was the first of The Leather Stocking Tales. It appeared in 1823, and was an immediate success; more than 3500 copies are said to have been sold before noon of the day of publication. This was reason enough for following the custom of the English novelists of putting on the title-page, not the name of the author, but the name of his first success. The Last of the Mohicans appeared February 4, 1826, and was also a prodigious success.
The surprising meagerness of bibliographical facts concerning Cooper's works is, Professor Lounsbury says in his life of the novelist, characteristic of a reticence and dislike of publicity which extended to all his dealings. "The size of the editions has never been given to the public. The sale of 'The Pioneers' on the morning of its publication has already been noticed, and there are contemporary newspaper statements to the effect that the first edition of 'The Red Rover' consisted of five thousand copies, and that this was exhausted in a few days. But it was only from incidental references of this kind, which can rarely be relied upon absolutely, that we, at this late day, are able to give any specific information whatever.
"He was unquestionably helped in the end, however, by what in the beginning threatened to be a serious if not insuperable obstacle. He was unable to get any one concerned in the book trade to assume the risk of bringing out 'The Spy.' That had to be taken by the author himself. In the case of this novel, we know positively that Cooper was not only the owner of the copyright, but of all the edition; that he gave directions as to the terms on which the work was to be furnished to the booksellers, while the publishers, Wiley & Halsted, had no direct interest in it, and received their reward by a commission. It is evident that under this arrangement his profits on the sale were far larger than would usually be the case. Whether he followed the same method in any of his later productions, there seems to be no method of ascertaining. Wiley, however, until his death, continued to be his publisher. 'The Last of the Mohicans' went into the hands of Carey & Lea of Philadelphia, and this firm, under various changes of name, continued to bring out the American edition of his novels until the year 1844."
Henry Charles Carey, son of Matthew Carey, was as celebrated for his writings on political economy as for his connection with this publishing house, which was one of the largest in the country.