The Origins of American Literature
James Fenimore Cooper was perhaps the most popular writer of the period.
He drew inspiration for his five volume series of Leatherstocking Tales (1823-1841)
from Walter Scott's Waverley novels. The tales, which include The Last of the
Mohicans, recount the adventures of the great frontiersman Natty Bumppo, nicknamed
`Leatherstocking'. Cooper shows great skill in weaving history into the exciting plots and
in creating credible and identifiably Am characters. His works sold widely in Am,
Britain and Europe.
Edgar Allan Poe was a southerner who moved north to find work as an author and
editor in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City. His gothic tales of horror
included the Romantic elements of fantasy and terror. His masterpieces The Fall of
The House of Usher (1839) and The Masque of the Red Death (1842) show a deeply
analytical mind which Poe also applied to literary criticism. His novel The Murders in
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