Description:

Cooper James

Unnumbered check issued from Cooperstown, NY on April 9, 1831 in the amount of 10 Dollars payable to “self” inscribed overall and signed “J. Fenimore Cooper.” The check was issued from the Otsego County Bank cashier and bears a “PAID at the Otsego Cty. Bank” red stamp at center. A later pencil inscription runs partly along the top. The partly printed and handwritten check is decorated by looping braid along the left edge and an eagle bearing an olive branch at upper left, measuring 6.125” x 2.125”. Graded by PSA/DNA as “EX-MT 6”. Uneven top edge. Enclosed in a PSA/DNA certified slab measuring 9.5” x 4.625”.

 

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), is widely recognized as America’s first major novelist. His father William helped found the settlement in upstate New York that now bears his name, the same “Cooperstown” that also appears on our check. By all accounts, Cooper was a bright and vivacious young scholar. He attended Yale University prior to his expulsion for a prank. After serving as a navy midshipman, Cooper married and enjoyed a level of financial independence that allowed him to pursue leisure activities, including writing.

 

Initially, Cooper modeled his works directly on or in opposition to acknowledged British novelists like Sir Walter Scott and Jane Austen. Yet as he gained in confidence, Cooper began to explore aspects of the newly forged American identity, including character types, settings, and situations. His “Leatherstocking Tales”, a series of five novels that span the lifetime of their hero, Hawkeye, or Natty Bumppo, were released over a twenty-year period, between 1823 and 1841. In these works, Cooper examined the concepts of the frontier, progress, and the “noble savage”. Cooper was also intrigued by European history and settings, especially during his time living abroad. “The Bravo”, the first book of his so-called European trilogy, was published the same year as this check.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000