The Deerslayer, or The First Warpath by James Fenimore Cooper, and: The Pilot; A Tale of the Sea by James Fenimore Cooper (review)

Reviews 93 The Deerslayer, or The First Warpath. By James Fenimore Cooper. (Albany: State University of New York, 1987. 682 pages, $44.50.) The Pilot; A Tale of the Sea. ByJames Fenimore Cooper. (Albany: State Uni­ versity of New York, 1986. 479 pages, $44.50.) In the 1960s, work was begun on the publication of Cooper’s writings in a series of “responsibly edited texts.” With the cooperation of the Fenimore Cooper family, partial funding from the Program for Editions of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the series sponsorship of Clark Univer­ sity and the American Antiquarian Society, the volumes are being published. The results are exhaustive, critical editions of these works, which are impor­ tant to the field of western literature. The new editions all include historical introductions, dedications and prefaces from all previous editions of each book, explanatory notes, textual commentary, textual notes, emendations, rejected readings, and word-divisions, along with the text. These volumes are highly recommended for serious Cooper scholars. —Charlotte M. Wright American Indian Woman, Telling Their Lives. By Gretchen M. Bataille and Kathleen Mullen Sands. (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. 209 pages, $7.95.) This is a collection of essays discussing the various methods which have been employed over the years in the collection of autobiographies of American Indian women. Individual autobiographies are discussed chronologically and the methods employed are discussed in depth. The book moves from the ethnographic perspective—“as told to” early methods—to the styles of stories that are presently being written by Indian women themselves, which often utilize the techniques of fiction. This book is heavy on methodology and short on actual stories of Indian women’s lives. The book could appeal to a broader audience, that is lay readers as well as professional historians/anthropologists, if more of the actual stories had been considered. —Penelope Reedy ...