''Precaution'' (1820) is the
first novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...
by American author
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...
.
Plot
''Precaution'' is set in the spring of 1815 in
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
, England. It follows the relationship of Emily Moseley and George Denbigh.
Development history
The novel was written after a challenge made by his wife Susan. Cooper was reading aloud to her from an English novel but found it dull. He threw the book aside and declared he could write a better book than that himself. Susan Cooper challenged her husband to make good on the statement.
The result was ''Precaution'', which was published anonymously and instead accredited to an English woman. The publisher, A. T. Goodrich, later surprised the public by revealing that ''Precaution'' was authored by a man from New York.
Cooper later noted that, in writing ''Precaution'', he "embraced a crude effort to describe foreign manners". He responded to critics who thought he should focus on American topics by using a more patriotic theme in his next book, ''
The Spy''.
Auguste Defauconpret
Auguste Jean-Baptiste Defauconpret (1767, Lille1843) was a French man of letters.
Initially a lawyer, Defauconpret relocated to England where he wrote some now forgotten novels. However, he became well known for his translations into French of E ...
translated ''Precaution'' into French in 1825.
Literary significant and reception
''Precaution'' was written in imitation of contemporary English domestic novels like those of
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
and
Amelia Opie
Amelia Opie (née Alderson; 12 November 1769 – 2 December 1853) was an English author who published numerous novels in the Romantic period up to 1828. Opie was also a leading abolitionist in Norwich, England. Hers was the first of 187,000 nam ...
, and it did not meet with contemporary success.
It did, however, make Cooper realize his potential as a writer.
[ Phillips, 1913 James Fenimore Cooper p.78] The author went on to have great success with works such as ''
The Pathfinder'' (1841) and ''
The Deerslayer
''The Deerslayer, or The First War-Path'' (1841) was James Fenimore Cooper's last novel in his ''Leatherstocking Tales''. Its 1740–1745 time period makes it the first installment chronologically and in the lifetime of the hero of the Leathers ...
'' (1840). The American reading public responded most to ''
The Last of the Mohicans
''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is a historical romance written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826.
It is the second book of the '' Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinde ...
'' (1826).
References
Sources
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Precaution (Novel)
1820 American novels
Novels by James Fenimore Cooper