[Rarebooks] FS: James Fenimore Cooper SIGNED LETTER: There Is Such a Strong Love for Hyperbole in the American Character

[Charles Agvent]

COOPER, James Fenimore. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS): There Is Such a 
Strong Love for Hyperbole in the American Character. Cooperstown, NY, 22 
May 1839. Fine one-page AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED as "J. Fenimore Cooper," 
approximately 500 words in his neat, small hand on one side of an 8" x 
10" sheet by the author of THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS to New York 
Congressman Daniel Dewey Barnard, concerning the libel lawsuit he 
brought against newspapermen who published unfavorable reviews of his 
work, including Horace Greeley, Park Benjamin, Elius Pellet, and Thurlow 
Weed. In full: "It is a rule of law that a party cannot impeach his own 
witnesses, else would I call in question, the accuracy of Stevenson's 
testimony. The dear old fellow's eyes are bad, and he has mistaken a 
figure. I do not know what to think of the delay in the arrival of the 
letter, however, which has a suspicious appearance. The most disgraceful 
means were adopted to obtain a verdict, agents having been employed, as 
we have been told, to talk against me out of doors. As everything goes 
by action and reaction, I get the benefit of the last. On the trial, the 
defense set up was a pretense that Mr. Barber was vindicating me against 
the libel of the Chenango man. This ruse, with the fact that the libel 
was copied, that another suit was pending, and that I did not press for 
damages, probably reduced the verdict one half. As it was, all the 
intelligent part of the jury were for $1000. I prefer the verdict as it 
is ($400), however, having Weed and the other man in view the change in 
opinion at Fonda was so great, that farmers came up and spoke to me, 
utter strangers, confessing that they have been prejudiced by the libel, 
and expressing their sense of the wrong that had been done. Here, the 
fox is utterly disconcerted, lying, wriggling and changing ground as usual.

A History ought to be a matter of fact, though, like most men, it is 
seldom what it ought to be. I aimed at truth in mine, and I believe I am 
nearer to it, than most historians, though I fear some mistakes must 
exist. At all events, I knew too much to swallow all the stuff that has 
been in circulation, and have purified the accounts of the battles, from 
a vast deal of exaggerated nonsense. The story tells well enough, in its 
simple dress, and in that I have endeavored to place it before the 
world. Whether the false taste of this country will relish this course, 
I do not know, I have a good deal distrusted the result, there is such a 
strong love for hyperbole in the American character. It is by no means 
improbable, the public will think that the historian of the navy ought 
to be on stilts, but I hold myself responsible for no man's opinions but 
my own. I have not yet heard how the book is liked.

I am much obliged to you and Stevenson, and the others who intended 
coming to the rescue, and my present object is to say so. I beg you will 
thank the gentlemen concerned, and accept of my sincere thanks in your 
own presence. I shall be in Albany, in a few days, on my way south."

When Cooper set sail with his family for Europe in 1826, he was at the 
height of his reputation with critics and of popularity with his 
readers. His novels such as THE SPY, THE PIONEERS, and THE LAST OF THE 
MOHICANS were also selling so well that he could afford to travel and 
reside in Europe for the next several years. During that time, however, 
he published certain works that seemed to Americans to be unfairly 
critical of his homeland, so that when he arrived back in New York in 
1833 he was already becoming regarded as an antidemocratic, 
pseudo-aristocratic scold.

After returning home, Cooper repurchased the family estate, including 
land on Lake Otsego called Three Mile Point, which his father had 
allowed villagers to use as a picnic site. On 22 July 1837, Cooper 
placed a notice in the local paper forbidding further public use of the 
Point. That curtly worded notice became the source of eight years of 
controversy and litigation.

Residents held a town meeting protesting Cooper's actions and drew up 
resolutions to remove Cooper's books from the local library. Elius 
Pellet, editor of the Chenango TELEGRAPH chronicled the conflict that 
August. The article was republished in the ALBANY EVENING JOURNAL by 
Thurlow Weed, and in the OTSEGO REPUBLICAN by Andrew Barber.

Cooper demanded a retraction from Barber, and in September 1838 he sued 
Pellet and Barber for libel, the subject of this letter. That suit, for 
replication of libelous materials, was the first to come to trial in the 
Fonda, New York, courthouse in May 1839, the month Cooper wrote the 
letter. The judge directed a verdict of $400 in favor of Cooper (about 
$10,000 adjusted for inflation), a judgment that was upheld on appeal. 
In March 1841, Cooper had authorities seize Barber's press and types to 
settle the award, bankrupting the editor.

By the time that award was settled, the Pellet libel suit had brought 
Cooper another $400 verdict, and he had filed numerous libel suits, many 
that he litigated on his own behalf and won.

The Cooper libel trials and related legal proceedings both darkened his 
own final years and placed him in a bad light with the American public. 
Beyond that, the issues raised by the disposition of these cases 
influenced the move to redefine the libel law in New York State so that 
suits like Cooper's would have little success in the future.

  Old mounting strip along the edge of the integral address leaf; the 
writing bold and clear. Near Fine. (#020970)        $5,000

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