1874 Rare Victorian Book - THE WATER-WITCH by James Fenimore Cooper Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley.
Author: James Fenimore Cooper. (F. O. C. Darley, illustrator).
Title: The Water-Witch; or, The Skimmer of the Seas. A Tale.
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton & Company, 1874.
Language: Text in English.
Size : 9.5 " X 6 ".
Pages: 183 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good decorated full cloth binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown, gilt on spine slightly faded - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright and tight, some light foxing and staining - as shown, name of a previous owner on the first endpaper).
Illustrations: Complete with the seven nice black & white full-page plates and title page drawing by F.O.C. Darley.
The book: Rare Victorian edition of The Water-Witch -- an 1830 novel by James Fenimore Cooper. Set in 17th century New York and the surrounding sea, the novel depicts the abduction of a woman, Alida de Barbérie, by the pirate captain of the brigantine Water-Witch, and the subsequent pursuit of that elusive ship by her suitor, Captain Ludlow.
Waterwitch, New Jersey is named after the novel.
The author: James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century. His historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries created a unique form of American literature. He lived much of his boyhood and the last fifteen years of life in Cooperstown, New York, which was founded by his father William Cooper on property that he owned. Cooper became a member of the Episcopal Church shortly before his death and contributed generously to it. He attended Yale University for three years, where he was a member of the Linonian Society.
The illustrator: Felix Octavius Carr ("F. O. C.") Darley (June 23, 1822 – March 27, 1888) was an American illustrator, known for his illustrations in works by well-known 19th-century authors, including James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, Mary Mapes Dodge, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, George Lippard, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Donald Grant Mitchell, Clement Clarke Moore, Francis Parkman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Nathaniel Parker Willis.