Book Description
Susan Fenimore Cooper (1813-1894), though often overshadowed by her celebrity father, James Fenimore Cooper, has recently become recognized as both a pioneer of American nature writing and an early advocate for ecological sustainability. Editors Rochelle Johnson and Daniel Patterson have assembled here a collection of ten pieces by Cooper that represent her most accomplished nature writing and the fullest articulation of her environmental principles. With one exception, these essays have not been available in print since their original appearance in Cooper's lifetime.

A portrait of her thoughts on nature and how we should live and think in relation to it, this collection both contextualizes Cooper's magnum opus, Rural Hours (1850), and demonstrates how she perceived her work as a nature writer. Frequently her essays are models of how to catch and keep the interest of a reader when writing about plants, animals, and our relationship to the physical environment. By lamenting the decline of bird populations, original forests, and overall biodiversity, she champions preservation and invokes a collective environmental conscience that would not begin to awaken until the end of her life and century.

The selections include independent essays, miscellaneous introductions and prefaces, and the first three installments from Cooper's work of literary ornithology, "Otsego Leaves," arguably her most mature and fully realized contribution to American environmental writing. In addition to a foreword by John Elder, one of the nation's leading environmental educators, an introduction analyzes each essay in various cultural contexts. Brief but handy textual notes supplement the essays. Perfect for nature-writing aficionados, environmental historians, and environmental activists, this collection will radically expand Cooper's importance to the history of American environmental thought. ... Read more

Amazon.com
In Rural Hours, Susan Fenimore Cooper (1813-1894), daughter of the famed novelist James Fenimore Cooper, records a year in the life of the fields and woods surrounding her home in Cooperstown, New York. She writes with a keen eye for detail, noting, for example, the disappearance of local species as their habitat is given over to farmland ("all kinds of black-birds are rare here; they are said to have been very numerous indeed at the settlement of the country, but have very much diminished in numbers of late years"), and keeping track of changes in the weather, fluctuations in animal populations, and like matters. Rural Hours is considered to be the first extended piece of nature writing by an American woman, and as such it should be of interest to a wide range of readers, from naturalists to students of regional literature and women's history. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

At last -- the full text of a marvellous and important book
For over a century, admirer's of Susan Fenimore Cooper's "Rural Hours" (1850) have been dependent on a heavily abridged version dating from 1887 -- the only one to be reprinted in modern times. Though"Rural Hours" is generally accepted both as good reading and as amajor contribution to American nature writing, it has not previously beenavailable as the author originally wrote it -- and as others, includingThoreau, read it. Susan Fenimore Cooper, long overshadowed by her novelistfather, is today becoming recognized as an important writer of the 19thcentury; this new text will make her most important and influential workfully available again both to scholars and toa new generation of readers.

This is a great read, a book to learn from, and to cherish.
This is a beautiful book, from the painting of Cooperstown on the cover to glossary where historical references, or the names of birds or other words that have changed over time are explained. Cooper's prose is insightful andcharming, and, given the book's historial prespective,makes me thinkabout present and future environmental concerns for our country. RuralHours makes the chain of small mill towns we have here in the BlackstoneValley region of Massachusetts come alive--Cooper saw the quiet commerce ofthe canals give way to the noise and pollution of the railroad industry andrealized that the land and species of bird and animal life surrounding herwere threatened. However Cooper's response to these feelings of peril wasnot to preach, but rather to praise the countryside and the life forms shewitnessed. As a woman reader, I must also say that it right and just thatthe parts of Rural Hours that were omitted from all editions since 1870should be brought back to us to now think about, appreciate, and learnfrom. Since reading, this book has stayed with me--the many beautifulimages of nature that Cooper portrays, but also her quiet voice of urgencythat encourages me to continue positive action in my own community, to notonly save what land is left, but also to restore urban and otherenvironments that have been abused.I highly recommend Rural Hours--it's agreat read, a book to cherish. ... Read more

Book Description
Novel about an unattractive but virtuous orphaned country girl who is abandoned by her betrothed. By the American writer and amateur naturalist. ... Read more

Product Description
428 page red clothbound hardcover poetry book with illustrations. Gilt lettering and gilt on all side edges. Publisher-G. P. Putnam & Company in 1854. ... Read more

Book Description
"Something far better than mere decoration; however, is requisite to make society at all agreeable," continued Mr. Ellsworth. "There is luxury enough among us, in eating and drinking, dressing and furniture, for instance; and yet what can well be more silly, more puerile, than the general tone of conversation at common parties among us? ... Read more

Book Description
Jane, too, left Elinor a few days later; and Miss Wyllys, who had charge of her--as Mr. and Mrs. Graham lived in Charleston--placed her at one of the fashionable boarding schools of New York. Miss Adeline Taylor had, in the mean time, informed her parents that she had changed her mind as to the school which was to have the honour of completing her education: she should NOT return to Mrs. A-----'s, but go to Mrs. G-----'s--. ... Read more

Product Description
In this extremely thought-provoking work, Cooper has argued against women suffrage. She has drawn on historical, biological as well as religious arguments to contend that women should not have the right to participate in the political sphere. Many may not agree with the ideas she presents but not all of her arguments can be refuted. ... Read more

Product Description
In this extremely thought-provoking work, Cooper has argued against women suffrage. She has drawn on historical, biological as well as religious arguments to contend that women should not have the right to participate in the political sphere. Many may not agree with the ideas she presents but not all of her arguments can be refuted. ... Read more

Product Description
In this extremely thought-provoking work, Cooper has argued against women suffrage. She has drawn on historical, biological as well as religious arguments to contend that women should not have the right to participate in the political sphere. Many may not agree with the ideas she presents but not all of her arguments can be refuted. ... Read more

Book Description
A satirical work concerning the autograph collecting mania of the mid-nineteenth century. By the American writer and amateur naturalist. ... Read more

Product Description
In this extremely thought-provoking work, Cooper has argued against women suffrage. She has drawn on historical, biological as well as religious arguments to contend that women should not have the right to participate in the political sphere. Many may not agree with the ideas she presents but not all of her arguments can be refuted. ... Read more

Product Description
In this extremely thought-provoking work, Cooper has argued against women suffrage. She has drawn on historical, biological as well as religious arguments to contend that women should not have the right to participate in the political sphere. Many may not agree with the ideas she presents but not all of her arguments can be refuted. ... Read more

Product Description
In this extremely thought-provoking work, Cooper has argued against women suffrage. She has drawn on historical, biological as well as religious arguments to contend that women should not have the right to participate in the political sphere. Many may not agree with the ideas she presents but not all of her arguments can be refuted. ... Read more

Product Description
In this extremely thought-provoking work, Cooper has argued against women suffrage. She has drawn on historical, biological as well as religious arguments to contend that women should not have the right to participate in the political sphere. Many may not agree with the ideas she presents but not all of her arguments can be refuted.Download Description
An adventurous party among us, weary of the old paths, is now eagerly proclaiming theories and doctrines entirely novel on this important subject. The EMANCIPATION OF WOMAN is the name chosen by its advocates for this movement. They reject the idea of all subordination, even in the mildest form, with utter scorn. They claim for woman absolute social and political equality with man. And they seek to secure these points by conferring on the whole sex the right of the elective franchise, female suffrage being the first step in the unwieldy revolutions they aim at bringing about. These views are no longer confined to a small sect. ... Read more

Book Description
Examination of whether gender equality is compatible with Christian teachings and whether universal suffrage can ever resolve social problems. By the American writer and amateur naturalist. ... Read more