The Chainbearer; or The Littlepage Manuscripts (in 2 vols.)
- New York: Burgess, Stringer and Company, 1845
New York: Burgess, Stringer and Company, 1845. First American edition. Two octavo volumes (7 11/16 x 4 9/16 inches; 196 x 117 mm.). [i]-iii, iv-vi, 7-212; [1-3], 4-228 pp. Publisher's pale buff paper printed wrappers. The wrappers have been noted by BAL in three different states. No sequence has been determined and the order presented is arbitrary. The wrappers may have been printed simultaneously. In the present copy the wrappers on volume I are in State 'B' with inner front "Mrs. Ellis's Housekeeping"; inner back "History of All Christian Sects…" and back wrapper with "The Great Book". The wrappers on volume II are in State 'A' with inner front "New and Beautiful Edition"; inner back "The Great Book" and back wrapper with "Cheap Books". Some light scattered foxing and or staining. Clean tear to lower margin of pp. iii/iv of preface in volume one. Lower wrapper of volume one with small piece (1 5/8 x 9/16 inches maximum) torn away from blank margin not touching any of the print on recto or verso, a couple of stains on the front and rear wrappers. Small split along the lower spine of volume 2. A remarkable survival, generally bright and fresh, with no restoration whatsoever. Individually chemised and housed in a quarter red morocco over red cloth board slip-case.
The Chainbearer; or The Littlepage Manuscripts is the second book in a trilogy of three novels (the first of which is Satanstoe from 1845, and the last being The Redskins from 1846). The first London edition, which preceded the American edition by about one month, was published in three volumes on November 22nd, 1845.
Cooper’s trilogy highlights the displacement of indigenous Americans from their lands during American westward expansion as a means of critiquing land ownership the belief that “progress” and “civilization” brings positive change to society. Instead, he shows that greed and corruption manifest when people believe they have a superiority of culture or the right to the lands of others. The Chainbearer takes its name from the character Andries Mordaunt’s profession: Chairbearers or chain carriers were men who worked in pairs under surveyors to measure land; their name comes from the chains they used.
The Chainbearer; or The Littlepage Manuscripts is the second book in a trilogy of three novels (the first of which is Satanstoe from 1845, and the last being The Redskins from 1846). The first London edition, which preceded the American edition by about one month, was published in three volumes on November 22nd, 1845.
Cooper’s trilogy highlights the displacement of indigenous Americans from their lands during American westward expansion as a means of critiquing land ownership the belief that “progress” and “civilization” brings positive change to society. Instead, he shows that greed and corruption manifest when people believe they have a superiority of culture or the right to the lands of others. The Chainbearer takes its name from the character Andries Mordaunt’s profession: Chairbearers or chain carriers were men who worked in pairs under surveyors to measure land; their name comes from the chains they used.