"A year after his imitative first novel Precaution (1820) enjoyed only modest success, James Fenimore Cooper penned The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground, a Revolutionary War narrative initiating the American historical romance, a novel and a genre that quickly put to rest the British critic Sydney Smith's 1820 quip, "In the four corners of the globe, who reads an American novel?" Beginning with The Spy, everyone did. The novel excited readers with the perilous adventures of the spy (Harvey Birch, the Yankee peddler) and ...
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"A year after his imitative first novel Precaution (1820) enjoyed only modest success, James Fenimore Cooper penned The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground, a Revolutionary War narrative initiating the American historical romance, a novel and a genre that quickly put to rest the British critic Sydney Smith's 1820 quip, "In the four corners of the globe, who reads an American novel?" Beginning with The Spy, everyone did. The novel excited readers with the perilous adventures of the spy (Harvey Birch, the Yankee peddler) and his contact Mr. Harper (George Washington appearing incognito), both surfacing repeatedly in various disguises and engaged in counterespionage (very clearly a parallel to the John Andre and Benedict Arnold stories) with their guerilla nemeses, the renegade Cow-Boys and loyalist Skinners. The Spy revealed the clash of loyalties within families between public and private duty to country and to self, and served as a microcosm of the new American world, staged in the "neutral ground" between opposing forces in Westchester, New York. William Gilmore Simms, Cooper's admirer and imitator, declared "The publication of The Spy ... was an event," while Boston's North American Review agreed, "the American Revolution is an admirable basis, on which to found fictions of the highest order of romantic interest." This fresh tale generated good American press for the young Cooper, and so set the stage for Cooper's career-long contributions to the development of the American novel. The editors provide a historical introduction identifying Cooper's sources, as well as detailed explanatory notes to enable readers fully to appreciate the geographical and historical settings in the novel. This scholarly edition, the eighteenth in "The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper," presents an accurate text drawing upon eight texts, from the first edition (with two editorially revised reprintings soon following to satisfy public demand) through the heavily revised Bentley Standard Novels edition (1831) and the more lightly revised Putnam Author's edition (1849). The editors provide a full scholarly apparatus discussing their editorial choices, and the edition has been approved by scholarly peers in the Committee for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association. "--
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Add this copy of The Spy; a Tale of the Neutral Ground to cart. $4.99, good condition, Sold by nealsbooks rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Menominee, MI, UNITED STATES, published by Grosset & Dunlap Publishers.
Add this copy of Spy a Tale of the Neutral Ground to cart. $5.77, like new condition, Sold by One Planet Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MO, UNITED STATES.
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Seller's Description:
Like New. Ships in a BOX from Central Missouri! Like Brand NEW. No tears, highlighting or writing because it's never been used! May have minor shelf wear. UPS shipping for most packages, (Priority Mail for AK/HI/APO/PO Boxes).
Add this copy of The Spy: a Tale of the Neutral Ground to cart. $6.00, good condition, Sold by Clausen Books, RMABA rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Colorado Springs, CO, UNITED STATES, published 1911 by Houghton Mifflin.
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Seller's Description:
Paperback An early paperback edition; Binding somewhat loose but generally secure (although softcover, the pages are sewn in). B&W illustration of Cooper on glossy paper in front. Title page indicates "edited with introduction and notes by Charles Swain Thomas. " The novel itself is contained in pages 1 through 415, the notes end on page 423, and questions and comments end on page 434. Text is clean and complete, printed in a nice serif legible typeface. Preface and biographical sketch by Thomas are follo wed by "Author's Introduction" by Cooper dated March 29, 1849. A good readable copy of this classic.
Add this copy of The Spy-a Tale of the Neutral Ground to cart. $6.00, good condition, Sold by Top Notch Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tolar, TX, UNITED STATES, published by Grosset & Dunlap.
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Seller's Description:
Good. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Red cloth boards have light edgewear, spinetip chipped. Prior owner name on feb, fep. Pages are clean, text has no markings, binding is sound. Small spots on sheet edges.
Add this copy of The Spy, A Tale of the Neutral Ground to cart. $6.00, very good condition, Sold by Hedgehog's Whimsey Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport, NH, UNITED STATES, published by Grosset & Dunlap.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. No dust jacket. Signed by previous owner. Lesser quality paper uniformly aged. Clean inside. Lower front board edge has walter stain. 437 p. Red cloth covered boards; black titles; Native profile in oval, cover. Blue & white illustrated end papers. Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales are set in the American frontier of New York State, 18th century. 'The Spy' is centered on the American Revolution experience, and opens in Westchester County, NY, 1780.
Add this copy of Spy a Tale of the Neutral Ground to cart. $7.00, new condition, Sold by SurplusTextSeller rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MO, UNITED STATES.
Add this copy of The Spy a Tale of the Neutral Ground to cart. $8.55, like new condition, Sold by Booketeria rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from San Antonio, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1963 by THE HERITAGE PRESS.
Add this copy of The Spy: a Tale of the Neutral Ground to cart. $9.00, very good condition, Sold by Browse Awhile Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tipp City, OH, UNITED STATES, published 1965 by The Heritage Press.
Add this copy of The Spy: a Tale of the Neutral Ground to cart. $11.28, good condition, Sold by Kayleighbug Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from CEDAR GROVE, WV, UNITED STATES, published 1921 by The Macmillan Company.
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Seller's Description:
Good. 424 pages; rear hinge split, previous owner's name on bottom page ends, school stamp on front endpaper (dated 1922); edge wear, rubbing to boards;
Add this copy of The Spy A Tale of the Neutral Ground to cart. $12.07, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2015 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
