The definitive edition of American writer Cooper's 1844 seafaring novel is supported by a 37-page historical introduction that places it in the contexts both of his writing career and the literary milieu of the middle 19th century, examines the style and strategy of the first-person narrative, and teases out some of the sources he used to make his account credible to his readers. Each volume contains one of the two parts Cooper originally intended the novel to appear in. For each part, explanatory and textual notes, emendations, rejected readings, and word-divisions are provided. The second part is also followed by textual commentary and a note on the manuscript and proof sheets. The two volumes are paged separately. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR