abandon his home of ease and refinement in Burlington, New Jersey, and
found a new, and, as it proved to be, a permanent one in the unpeopled
wilderness at the foot of Otsego Lake. Except for this accident of
fortune, Leatherstocking and his companions of the forest never could
have been created by the pen of Cooper.

[Illustration: signature 'Francis W. Italsey']




ILLUSTRATIONS

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. From Appleton portrait. By permission of owner,
James Fenimore Cooper, Esq., of Albany, N.Y. _Frontispiece_

THE ENGLISH FYNAMORE COUNTRY AND FAMILY ARMS.

COOPER'S BIRTHPLACE. Burlington, N.J. From a photograph by George W.
Tichnor

THE FENIMORE BOX. (Of light and dark woods, size 12-1/2 X 6-3/4 inches.)
From photograph by permission of owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.,
Albany, N.Y.

THE SUSQUEHANNA. By W.H. Bartlett

CHINGACHGOOK ON COUNCIL ROCK. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

COUNCIL ROCK. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer