American writer (1789–1851) best known for his series of Leatherstocking Tales and the novel The Last of the Mohicans. ALS in French, signed “J. Fenimore Cooper,” one page, 4 x 6.25, no date, but after 1844. Letter, to an unidentified recipient, critical of the French translation of his autobiographical novel, Afloat and Ashore. In full (translated): “Epigraph is not the same in two languages. But it is, I suppose, pretty exact. The lines may be found, Shakespeare, in the drama of the Tempest Act I, Scene II. It is Prospero who talks to his daughter Miranda. If there is a translation generally accepted of this drama, it would be better to place it in the title. It is related to the novel in this way. No where did I name the trapper as Nathaniel Bumpho. The Epigraph invites the reader to discover the similarity between the main character of the three books. We made a mistake in the second page. We say in English ‘The waters of the Atlantic. The waters of the pacific & c.’ That is to say the waters are tributaries to these seas. For example we say ‘The waters of the Mississippi,’ which is a large river with tributaries—we mean to say, in this case, all the waters which are tributaries to the Mississippi. So I said, that it gave us (the possession of Louisiana) a thousand roads for internal commerce and to the waters of the Pacific ocean—I know nothing of French style, but the idea is more accurate and true, it seems in the original than in the translation. I salute you.” In fine condition, with a rough right edge, and a uniform shade of mild toning.
In a letter teaming with content, the great novelist personally addresses his concerns with a translation of his 1844 novel—a work that denoted his familiarity with the Hudson River and Long Island, Revolutionary War engagements, and a decidedly accurate depiction of maritime life in the 1790s. At the heart of the matter was Cooper’s concern to separate the nation from a dependance on England in all aspects...including a shared spoken and written word. In this specific instance, however, Cooper was adamant in the proper depiction of his tale in the French interpretation. Cooper focuses on a translation in Chapter 5 of Afloat and Ashore, which begins with a quotation from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest: ‘They hurried us aboard a bark; Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepared a rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg’d, Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rates instinctively had girt us.’ The epigraph literally loses something in translation, according to Cooper, though conceding. “It is, I suppose, pretty exact.” Cooper also mentions in this letter that “No where did I name the trapper Nathaniel Bumpho.” However, Cooper’s main character in his 1827 novel, The Prairie was named Nathaniel Bumppo...also known as ‘the trapper.’ Cooper letters talking about America and his novels are scarce and desirable. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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