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The Water-Witch;
or, The Skimmer of the Seas
by James Fenimore Cooper
The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper
Lance E. Schachterle, Editor-in-Chief
Edited, with an Historical Introduction,
by Thomas Philbrick and Marianne Philbrick
LC 2009043175
ISBN-10: 0-404-64466-X
Set ISBN-13: 978-0-404-64466-6
Cloth: $197.50
AMS Studies in the Nineteenth Century, No. 36 |
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This monumental edition of The Water-Witch; or, The Skimmer of the Seas (1830) offers a definitive scholarly treatment of the text, with hundreds of pages of editorial matter, including an extensive historical introduction, explanatory notes, and just under 200 pages of descriptive bibliographic material.
At the center is Cooper’s fascinating text, the fourth novel he completed and published during his seven-year European sojourn (1826–33), when Cooper was at the height of his reputation both in the United States (as the standard-bearer of American literary genius) and in Europe (as a leading light of the international Romantic movement). The novel draws upon two of the most successful innovations of Cooper’s earlier fiction: The Spy (1821), with its central focus on the American Revolution, and The Pilot (1824), the first sea novel to capture the romance and thrill of daring navigation in sailing vessels.
Cooper imbued The Water-Witch with exciting and mysterious feats of sailing around Sandy Hook, Raritan Bay, Staten Island, the Manhattan waterfront, Hell Gate, and Long Island Sound. Cooper had sailed these waters himself, but the brilliant tonalities of these scenes owe as much to his experiences at Sorrento and the Bay of Naples as to his recollections of the New York Harbor.
By centering much of the plot around the efforts of stolid Dutch merchants and free-spirited American sailors to evade the taxes of the corrupt local British government, The Water-Witch anticipated the political issues that led a half-century later to the Revolution itself. The heroine, the lively and unconventional Alida de Barberie, and the fantastic smuggler brigantine and her crew, make The Water-Witch one of Cooper’s most fanciful and beguiling tales.
The text, historical introduction, and all supporting materials for this edition have been prepared by Thomas and Marianne Philbrick. The Philbricks base their edition on the extant holograph at the Beinecke Library, Yale, and elsewhere, and on the amanuensis text at the Barrett Library, the University of Virginia, and elsewhere. The Philbricks have previously edited AMS’s acclaimed two-volume edition of Cooper’s Afloat and Ashore (2004). Thomas Philbrick is author of many studies on American literature including the landmark James Fenimore Cooper and the Development of American Sea Fiction (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961).
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Contents
Historical Introduction
Preface [1830]
Preface [1834]
Preface [1851]
The Water-Witch
Explanatory Notes
Textual Commentary
Note on the Manuscripts
Textual Notes
Emendations
Rejected Readings
Word-Division
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789–1851.
The water-witch, or, The skimmer of the seas / James Fenimore Cooper ; edited, with an historical introduction by Thomas Philbrick and Marianne Philbrick.
p. cm. — (AMS studies in the nineteenth century, ISSN 0196-657x ; no. 36) (The writings of James Fenimore Cooper)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-404-64466-6 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 404-64467-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
I. Philbrick, Thomas.
II. Philbrick, Marianne.
III. Title.
IV. Title: Water-witch.
V. Title: Skimmer of the seas.
PS1418.W3 2010
813'.4—dc22 2009043175
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