The Spy — Cooper/Baldridge, Minton Balch 1924

📖 The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper (1924, Minton, Balch & Company) — the first Baldridge-illustrated edition of Cooper’s 1821 Revolutionary War novel, with color litho cover art, illustrated endpapers, and eight full-page color plates. This copy is Very Good- to Very Good, with clean plates and a cracked-but-not-pulled front hinge.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851)
• Publisher: Minton, Balch & Company, New York
• Year: 1924 (first edition thus — first Baldridge-illustrated edition of the novel)
• Format: Hardcover, navy blue cloth, color litho paste-down on front board
• Pages: 389 | ISBN: None (pre-ISBN era)
• Condition: Very Good- (VG-)/Very Good (VG) — full report below

THE STORY

First published in 1821, The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground was Cooper’s second novel and the book that made him a major American writer. Set during the Revolutionary War on the "Neutral Ground" of Westchester County, New York — the no-man’s-land between British and Continental lines — it follows Harvey Birch, a Yankee pack-peddler suspected of spying for the British who is in fact working secretly for George Washington. Washington himself appears in the novel in disguise, as the mysterious Mr. Harper. The plot was inspired in part by Cooper’s family friend John Jay.

THIS EDITION

Published in New York by Minton, Balch & Company in 1924, this is the first edition of The Spy illustrated by C. LeRoy Baldridge — the "first edition thus" cited by dealers. The title page carries Baldridge’s credit above the Minton, Balch imprint, and the edition is dressed in navy cloth with a color lithograph pasted to the front board, Baldridge’s illustrated endpapers, and eight full-page color plates. Dealer listings for this edition confirm the plate count and the 389-page extent.

COVER ART & ILLUSTRATIONS

Baldridge’s artwork carries the whole edition. The front board’s color litho shows the spy himself — a figure in tricorn hat and red sash crouched on a rocky outcrop against hazy mountains — with the title set in a white panel above and the author’s name below. The spine is gilt-stamped: The SPY, by James Fenimore Cooper, MINTON, BALCH & COMPANY, with a small pictorial vignette. Inside, the illustrated title page depicts two riders before a colonial house above the imprint. The color plates include a mounted charge with infantry firing across a field, a tense confrontation in a rustic interior, and a dark scene of a rearing horse; all remain bold and well-preserved. The novel opens — "It was near the close of the year 1780…" — on the same Westchester valley country Baldridge drew.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Cooper’s breakthrough novel — its 1821 success began his reputation as a popular and important American writer.
• One of the earliest American novels of espionage: Harvey Birch’s double game and Washington’s disguise made the peddler a prototype of the fictional spy.
• Baldridge (1889–1977) was an American illustrator and muralist whose historical style suited early Americana; his Cooper editions are collected for the plates.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? The 1924 Minton, Balch & Company (New York) edition illustrated by C. LeRoy Baldridge — dealers call it a first edition thus, being the first edition of the 1821 novel with Baldridge’s artwork. 389 pages, color plates, illustrated endpapers.

Is this the original 1821 printing? No — the novel was first published in 1821 by Wiley & Halsted. This is the 1924 illustrated edition, the one collectors want for Baldridge’s plates.

What condition is it in? Very Good- (VG-)/Very Good (VG) — clean text block, complete plates, cracked-but-not-pulled front hinge. Full report below.

FOR COLLECTORS

Complete plates and endpapers are the things most often missing from copies of this edition; this copy has them all, and the color litho on the front board still holds strong color. A solid reading-and-display copy of a foundational American novel in its most illustrated dress.

Book Details

Author: James Fenimore Cooper

Illustrator: C. LeRoy Baldridge (Cyrus LeRoy Baldridge)

Publisher: Minton, Balch & Company

Binding: Hardcover

Edition Points: 1924 illustrated edition; dated 1924 on the title page with illustrations by C. LeRoy Baldridge. This is a first edition in this dressing.

Condition Report

Overall Grade: Very Good- (VG-)/Very Good (VG)

Cover & Spine: Navy blue cloth with bright, clear gilt lettering on spine; front pictorial paste-down retains strong color with minor edge wear and a small localized surface scuff to the lower center; mild softening to spine ends and corner tips all around are worn to boards.

Text Block & Pages: Uniform lightly age-toned text block; pages are clean, supple, and unmarked throughout; color plates and pictorial endpapers remain bold and well-preserved.

Binding: Square, tight bloc, front hinge cracked but not pulled, only become noticeable upon opening the cover wide. No loose, torn, or folded pages, all color plates complete.

So Gorgeous! Love it!

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

HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-10-01

1 in stock