{The text is taken from the novelette's original appearance in Graham's
Magazine, Vol. XXII, pp. 1-18, 89-102, 158-167, 205-213 (January-
April) 1843. "Autobiography" was simultaneously issued as a separate
number of Brother Jonathan magazine (March 22, 1843), under the title
"Le Mouchoir: An Autobiographical Romance." Also in 1843 it was
published in London by Richard Bentley as "The French Governess; or,
the Embroidered Handkerchief." A German translation quickly
followed, as "Die franzosischer Erzieheren, oder das gestickte
Taschentuch" (Stuttgart: Lieschning, 1845, reprinted 1849). Interest in
the book then lapsed. The Brother Jonathan and Bentley editions
divided the story into 18 chapters (as we have in this transcription).}

{At the end of the century a limited scholarly edition (500 copies)
appeared, edited by Walter Lee Brown, the first scholary treatment of
any Cooper work, noting variations between the original manuscript and
the various published texts: "Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief"
(Evanston, IL: The Golden-Booke Press, 1897). Another edition,
unannotated and taken from the Graham's Magazine version, was
printed half a century later as a Festschrift (farewell testimonial) for
retiring Cooper scholar Gregory Lansing Paine of the University of
North Carolina: "Autobiography of A Pocket-Handkerchief" (Chapel
Hill: Privately printed, 1949). "Autobiography" was never included in
published collections of James Fenimore Cooper's "Works," and this
scarcity is an important reason for making it available to scholars
everywhere through the Gutenberg Project.}

{ Because of the limitations imposed by the Gutenberg Project format,
italics used by Cooper to indicate foreign words are ignored, as are
accents; while italics Cooper used for emphasis are usually indicated by