Mar 07, 2024 - Sale 2661

Sale 2661 - Lot 151

Unsold
Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000
COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE. Autograph Letter Signed, "J. Fenimore Cooper," to James de Peyster Ogden ("Dear Ogden"), asking for a loan, reporting that he has completed and sold an edition of "The History" [his History of the Navy of the United States of America], and speculating that a second edition of "The History" may be better. 1 page, 4to, with integral address leaf; some loss to top right corner (not affecting text), unobtrusive vertical fold through signature. (SFC) Philadelphia, 17 April 1839
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"I want $1000 for 60 days to complete the payments of my late Cooperstown purchases. . . . I would give you notes here, but the dates would be longer than you like . . . . The note can be gotten when I draw.
"The History is done. I have sold one edition, not a large one, well, and am negotiating for a stereotype [printing plates]. We sail here next week, I think, but cannot stop in New York on account of the expense . . . . Dr. [William?] DeLaney is to be consecrated, and we all flee from this place in a body. I shall probably not be in New York before June, unless compelled to go to raise the money mentioned.
"Those who have read The History like it, I think, and I confess it is rather to my own fancy, though a second edition may be better. . . ."