III. COOPER'S TRAVELS IX GERMANY 



Unlike Cooper's first literary endeavor 'Precaution' (1820), 

 which was a failure, his second novel 'The Si)y' (1821) was 

 immediately received with success. In a few months it had 

 enjoyed a sale greater than any other Amei ican Jiovel. Early in 

 1822 the novel was pul)lished in England. In the sununer of 

 1822 it appeared in French. In 1824 it was translated into Ger- 

 man. It was tliis novel which assured Cooper's success on the 

 r^ontinent. 'The Pioneers' (1828) and 'The Pilot' (1824) were 

 also innnediately translated and only seized to increase his popu- 

 larity. With the appearance of 'The Last of the Mohicans' 

 (1826) Cooper was at the very height of his fame. These suc- 

 cesses made it financially possible for him to realize an old desire 

 to visit the countries of Europe. After having first been ap- 

 pointed consul at Lyons by Secretary of State Henry Clay, 

 Cooper sailed for Europe with his family in June, 1826. An 

 outline of his travels, according to Lounsbury, follows : After a 

 short stay in England, Cooper went to France where he arrived 

 July 18, 1826. He remained in or about Paris until February, 

 1828, when he returned to England. In June he returned to 

 France by way of Holland and B'dgium. In Jul}^ 1828, he set- 

 tled in Berne, Switzerland. In October he crossed the Simplon 

 Pass and stayed in or near Florence during the following win- 

 ter and spring. Having given up his position as consul he 

 remained in Rome during tlie winter of 1829-30. In the spring 

 of 1830 he went to Venice and thence across the Tyrolese Alps 

 to Munich. Later in the year he settled in Dresden. At the out- 

 break of t\if July Revolution he hastened to Paris, where he 

 remained until his return to America in November, 1833. 



We are only interested here in his travels in Germany for 

 which the best authority is his own account as given in his 

 ' Sketches of Switzerland. ' By an American. They appeared in 

 two parts of two volumes each in 1836. The title of the Eng- 

 lish Edition of Part One was 'Excursions in Switzerland;' of Part 

 Two 'A Residence in France; with an Excursion up the Rhine, 

 and a Second Visit to Switzerland.' 



In the first part of these Sketches he tells of his excursion 

 from Paris through Burgundy to Berne, Switzerland, in 1828. 

 He shows himself a student of S^^'iss history and an a])preeiative 

 observer of Alpine scenery. From Berne he journeyed to the 



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