The Works Of James Fenimore Cooper The Sea Lions

The Sea Lions (1849) is the twelfth and last of Cooper's sea novels, a genre he largely invented. Drawing upon memories from nearly three decades earlier of his own ventures in whaling and his reviews of accounts of exploring and hunting in cold seas, Cooper fashioned an exciting tale of two small vessels capturing seals near the Antarctic Circle. When the sealers are trapped by the ice and forced to winter over in extreme conditions, Cooper's hero undergoes a spiritual transformation amidst the sublime threat of hostile Nature. The editors argue that this transformation parallels Cooper's gradual shift from a religion of Nature to his embracing Trinitarian Christianity. In expanding the scope of his sea fiction to embrace spiritual questions, Cooper anticipates Melville, who reviewed the novel favorably. This scholarly edition, the thirtieth in The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper series, presents an accurate text that draws upon both the American first edition and the British first edition, for which the editors have determined Cooper provided some revisions not found in his American text. The edition provides extensive historical, cultural, and geographic explanatory notes. The editors also provide a full scholarly apparatus discussing their editorial choices, and the edition has been approved by scholarly peers in the Committee for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This whaling adventure from beloved American author James Fenimore Cooper works on two levels. On the surface, it's an exciting maritime action-adventure tale recounting the twin voyages of two different ships seeking bounty and treasure in the waters around Antarctica. On a deeper level, it's a thought-provoking allegory about how adverse circumstances can impact people differently based on their character and spirit.

Excerpt from The Works of James Fenimore Cooper: The Sea Lions The physical marvels of the universe produce little more re ection than the profoundest moral truths. A million of eyes shall pass over the firm ament, on a cloudless night, and not a hundred minds shall be filled with a proper sense of the power of the dread Being that created all that is there - not a hundred hearts glow with the adoration that such an appeal to the senses and understanding ought naturally to produce. This indifference, in a great measure, comes of familiarity the things that we so constantly have before us, becoming as a part of the air we breathe, and as little regarded. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.