A very smartly preserved first edition of J. Fenimore-Cooper's [1789-1851] pro-American manifesto.

The work, well received in 1834, was a passionate call to Americans to embrace their uniquely American identity, or, to what we would think of as American Exceptionalism. Fenimore-Cooper had just returned form Europe, and it was a revelation. He now saw it clear; America had ceased being itself, had become smooth, no longer embracing its rugged individualism and its unique destiny. It had instead become captive to the ideas of Europe. 

So he writes the present to his fellow Americans, urging them to give up deference to foreign opinions, to rely on American thought and American culture, and to re-capture and further develop a uniquely American national identity marked by personal liberties, robust free speech and participation in the public square, and financial and technological independence. As fascinating a read now as it was then.

Fenimore-Cooper, J. A Letter to His Countrymen. New-York. John Wiley, 22 Nassau-Street. 1834. 116pp.

Good + to very good in original mineral blue paper boards and deep green grained cloth on spine. Endpapers and front matter foxed and toned, else generally with some light foxing. Very solid. A rather nice copy overall.