The Deerslayer — Cooper/Wyeth, Scribner 1927

📖 The Deerslayer; or, The First War-Path by James Fenimore Cooper (1927, Charles Scribner’s Sons) — the first Wyeth-illustrated edition of Cooper’s final Leatherstocking Tale, featuring nine full-color plates by N.C. Wyeth. This copy is a black cloth hardcover with color pastedown cover plate, in VG- condition with no dust jacket.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851)
• Illustrator: N.C. Wyeth (1882–1945)
• Publisher: Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York
• Year: 1927 (copyright 1925)
• Format: Hardcover in black cloth with color pastedown plate; no dust jacket
• Pages: ~480 | ISBN: None (pre-ISBN era)
• Condition: Very Good minus (VG-) — full report below

THE STORY

The Deerslayer is the first chronologically of Cooper’s five Leatherstocking Tales, though published last in 1841. It follows a young Natty Bumppo — called “Deerslayer” — on his first war-path alongside his Delaware blood brother Chingachgook, set against the French and Indian War in colonial New York. The novel explores the collision between frontier justice and civilization through the rescue of two sisters, Hetty and Judith Hutter, from Huron captivity.

THIS EDITION

This 1927 Scribner’s edition is the first to feature N.C. Wyeth’s illustrations for The Deerslayer, part of the celebrated series of Cooper novels Wyeth illustrated for Scribner’s in the 1920s. The copyright page reads 1925, with the title page dated 1927. Wyeth’s Cooper illustrations — alongside his work for The Last of the Mohicans and The Pathfinder — are considered among the finest examples of American Golden Age book illustration.

COVER ART & ILLUSTRATIONS

The front cover features a color pastedown illustration by Wyeth: the Deerslayer crouched among dense green pine foliage, feathered cap and long rifle in hand, scanning the wilderness. The dark cloth binding is framed by decorative emblems — a deer’s head and a skull — flanking the author and illustrator credits. Inside, nine full-color plates depict key scenes: Native American figures on rocky terrain, a dramatic fight on a wooden platform, a nighttime canoe struggle under a crescent moon, and the Deerslayer’s confrontation with his pursuers against a vivid sunset sky. Each plate is captioned with text from the novel and bears the Scribner’s copyright.

WHY IT MATTERS

• First Wyeth-illustrated edition of The Deerslayer — part of the Scribner’s Cooper series that defined how generations visualized the American frontier
• N.C. Wyeth was one of the foremost American illustrators of the early 20th century, teacher to Andy Warhol and Norman Rockwell, and father of illustrator Andrew Wyeth
• The Leatherstocking Tales are foundational works of American literature — Cooper essentially invented the frontier novel and influenced Hemingway, Faulkner, and the entire Western genre

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? First Wyeth-illustrated edition, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1927 (copyright 1925). Title page reads “The Deerslayer; or, The First War-Path.”

What condition is it in? Very Good minus (VG-) — full report below.

Is the dust jacket included? No. This copy has no dust jacket.

FOR COLLECTORS

This is the kind of Wyeth-illustrated Scribner’s that anchors a frontier literature shelf. The black cloth binding with the color pastedown is the standard format for this edition — when found with all nine plates intact and the binding square, it is a solid collector’s copy. The VG- grade reflects honest shelf wear without structural issues.

Book Details

James Fenimore Cooper’s historical novel of the American frontier, enhanced by the classical illustrations of N. C. Wyeth.

As part of the celebrated Scribner Illustrated Classics series, this volume captures the rugged beauty and suspense of Natty Bumppo’s early adventures.

It represents an authentic piece for collectors of historic American illustration and classic adventure fiction.

Book Details

• Author: James Fenimore Cooper
• Illustrator: N. C. Wyeth
• Publisher: Charles Scribner’s Sons
• Binding: HARDCOVER
• Edition Points: Title page dated 1927, with copyright 1925 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Features black cloth binding with a color pastedown cover plate and illustrated endpapers.

Condition Report

• Overall Grade: Very Good- (VG-)
• Cover & Spine: Minor rubbing to the edges and corners. The front cover paste-down color illustration remains clear and intact with minor surface scuffs. The black cloth back cover shows some light color rubbing and some kind of white staining near outer upper corner. Spine ends show fraying to the cloth as do the board corners, which are lightly bumped.
• Dust Jacket: Not present.
• Text Block & Pages: Lightly age-toned text block. Color plates remain clean, vivid, and firmly bound. Text pages are all bright and uniform, no loose, torn or folded pages. No writing. All color plates are confirmed included.
• Binding: Square, lightly starting at both front and back hinges.

See accompanying images for full condition details. Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

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