M & S Rare Books

Document Information
Our descriptions are copyrighted, and may not be reproduced without permission. (title 17, U. S. Code).

In Defense of the Noble Savage: Amateur Fiction, a la Cooper, Simms & Scott

 

(FICTION IN MANUSCRIPT). LEON (pseud.). The Last of the Eries. A Leaf of Aboriginal History. . Manuscript of 13 narrow 4to leaves, written in ink on rectos only. Vertical tear on top of first leaf without loss. No place and no date, but circa 1840-60. $275.00

 

A maudlin and amateurish attempt in a mature hand at a typical early 19th century romantic tale in the style of Cooper, Simms and Scott. Almost immediately this short work sinks to the level of self-parody. A characteristic passage expresses the plight of the hapless Eries: "Not fighting in the defence of their country, or her people; for the former was lost to them forever, and they were the remnant of the latter; no applauding countrymen to rear monuments to their memory, or emblazon their deeds in story; to be remembered but by their enemies, or to be lost in the night of ages, their courage was of that kind, which fears neither Death nor Oblivion: more than Spartan bravery, though exhibited by the red man of the forest.  The sun of their nation was about to set in gloom, and their own names to be remembered in infamy." The two main characters, the unhappily named Ni-ah-gwah and his wife Owi, are pasteboard cutouts, caricatures of the "noble savages" of Cooper and Simms. The author attempts to pour all of the elements of historical romance into this short work, and the results are predictably horrendous. Nonetheless, this is valuable as an example of the pervasive influence of the literary fashion of the time and, in a useful way, stands as a foil to the great works of the period.