The Wing-and-Wing, Or Le Feu-Follet

James Fenimore Cooper, Anna Scannavini, Lance Schachterle

Description

In 1842, James Fenimore Cooper returned to transatlantic themes with a thrilling historical novel set in the Mediterranean Sea, weaving together a characteristically exciting narrative of naval pursuit with a story of lovers separated by religious differences. As the novel unfolds, warships under the command of the recently ennobled Lord Nelson are thwarted in their attempt to capture the French privateer Raoul Yvard and his graceful lugger Le Feu-Follet, while Yvard himself is frustrated because the Italian girl he loves, loyal to the Church, refuses to marry a French deist. Cooper also worked into his story one of his most colorful Yankee characters, Ithuel Bolt, an impressed seaman who combines courage and righteousness with bitterness and greedy self-interest.

What sets The Wing-And-Wing apart from Cooper's other maritime adventures is the setting: most of the action occurs in the genial Italian waters of the Bay of Naples and Gulf of Salerno, locations Cooper had visited in 1829–30 and later recalled as "the only region of the earth that I truly love." He combined the struggle for naval dominance just beginning between France and England with historical events occurring in the Kingdom of Naples, especially the role reluctantly played by Nelson, pressured by his lover Lady Hamilton, in the execution of the Neapolitan hero Admiral Caraccioli.

The editors provide a historical introduction identifying Cooper's Italian 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 twenty-seventh in the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper, presents an accurate text drawing upon both the first edition and a lightly revised authorial text from 1850. 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.
Acknowledgments
Historical Introduction
Illustrations
Preface [1842]
Preface [1851]

The Wing-and-Wing

Explanatory Notes

Italian Glossary

Textual Commentary

Editorial and Proofreading Procedures

Emendations

Rejected Readings

Textual Notes
Word-Division

Sujets

• Historical fiction
• Sea story

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438474960
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

THE WING-AND-WING,
Or LE FEU-FOLLET; A TALE
The Writings of JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
JAMES FRANKLIN BEARD, FOUNDING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, 1966–1989
KAY SEYMOUR HOUSE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, 1990–2002
LANCE SCHACHTERLE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, 2002–
STEPHEN CARL ARCH, ASSOCIATE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
JAMES P. ELLIOTT, CHIEF TEXTUAL EDITOR
ROBERT D. MADISON, TEXTUAL EDITOR
Sponsors
AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY
CLARK UNIVERSITY
WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
Advisory Committee
LANCE SCHACHTERLE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND CHAIR
STEPHEN CARL ARCH, ASSOCIATE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
JAMES P. ELLIOTT, CHIEF TEXTUAL EDITOR
WAYNE FRANKLIN
THOMAS KNOLES
JOHN P. MCWILLIAMS
R. D. MADISON
LINN CAREY MEHTA
KEAT MURRAY
THOMAS PHILBRICK
ANNA SCANNAVINI
G. THOMAS TANSELLE
THE WING-AND-WING,
Or LE FEU-FOLLET; A TALE
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
Edited with Historical Introduction and Explanatory Notes by Lance Schachterle and Anna Scannavini
“Know, Without star, or angel, for their guide, Who worship God shall find him.”
—Edward Young, Night Thoughts , IX.1856–58
The Emblem of the Committee on Scholarly Editions indicates that this volume is based on an examination of all available relevant textual sources, that it is edited according to principles articulated in the volume, that the source texts and any deviation of the edited texts from them are fully described, that the editorial principles, the text, and the apparatus have undergone a peer review, that a rigorous schedule of verification and proofreading was followed to insure a high degree of accuracy in the presentation of the edition, and that the text is accompanied by appropriate textual and historical contextual information .
Cover art: Thomas Butterworth. A Royal Navy Brig chasing and engaging a well-armed pirate lugger . Oil on canvas. Date unknown. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2019 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851, author. | Schachterle, Lance, editor. | Scannavini, Anna, editor.
Title: The wing-and-wing, or, Le feu-follet : a tale / James Fenimore Cooper ; edited with historical introduction and explanatory notes by Lance Schachterle and Anna Scannavini.
Other titles: Wing-and-wing | Feu-follet
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2019] | Series: The writings of James Fenimore Cooper | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018036022 | ISBN 9781438474953 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438474960 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815—Fiction. | GSAFD: Historical fiction. | Sea stories.
Classification: LCC PS1419 .W3 2019 | DDC 813/.2—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018036022
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments
Historical Introduction
Illustrations
Preface [1842]
Preface [1851]
The Wing-and-Wing
Explanatory Notes
Italian Glossary
Textual Commentary
Editorial and Proofreading Procedures
Emendations
Rejected Readings
Textual Notes
Word-Division
Acknowledgments
Professor Scannavini wishes to acknowledge the staffs of the American Antiquarian Society and the Boston Public Library for their assistance in her search for contemporary reviews of the novel and in other tasks necessary to provide the information in the Historical Introduction. The staff of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale (“National library”) of Rome has provided information on the Italian translations of Cooper, and has been consulted, at different stages of the project, regarding the Italian reception of Cooper and the background of the 1799 events in Naples. Professor Scannavini also thanks Professor Maccherini, Art History, L’Aquila University, for his comments on the “Royal Presides” (“Stato dei Presidi”) and the watch-towers. Information on the history of the “Stato dei Presidi” has come also from the Association “Centro culturale presidios” of Porto Santo Stefano, Monte Argentario. Special thanks go to Maria Giovanna Fusco, English Language, L’Aquila University, for her comments on the “Italian Glossary.” A thank-you is also due to Diana Passino, Linguistics, Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, for her contribution to clarifying the possibilities, or lack thereof, of affinities between Italian and English phonologies.
Professor Schachterle is grateful for the technical support in creating the digital files of this edition from the staff of the Academic Technology Center at WPI, especially from James Monaco, Instructional Media Specialist. Connor Thornberg provided diligent and accurate service in converting all editorial materials into the final InDesign format. Professor Schachterle also recognizes the essential work of WPI students Emma Raymond, Meghana Prakesh, and Fionna Heaney for their efficiency in preparing the necessary visual and Hinman collations of the present text. Finally, the support staff of the WPI Humanities and Arts Department was as always prompt and thorough: Mary Cotnoir did numerous copying and mailing tasks central to the project, and Karen Hassett kept track of all expenses, principally payment of the WPI undergraduates acknowledged above.
In supplying full citations for Cooper’s chapter epigraphs, Professor Schachterle found invaluable assistance in two publications of the James Fenimore Cooper Society. Hugh C. MacDougall originally published “The Cooper Epigraphs” as the Society’s Miscellaneous Papers #12 in 1999; Steven P. Harthorn then published a series of supplements. Further, MacDougall’s Miscellaneous Paper #3, “Where was James? A James Fenimore Cooper Chronology from 1789 to 1851” (May 1993) was an invaluable guide for tracking the author’s movements in preparing the introductory material. All three texts are available at the Society website at http://external.oneonta.edu/cooper/epigraphs.html .
The editors are grateful for the advice and support of the Modern Language Association’s Committee for Scholarly Editions, especially for the guidance of Laura Kiernan. Signe Wegener (emerita, Georgia) and Wayne Franklin (University of Connecticut) both provided helpful reviews, including corrections and suggestions the editors used to advantage for their final text. Any remaining errors, however, are those of the editors.
In trying to document thoroughly Cooper’s geographical, historical, and nautical references, the editors often relied on Thomas Philbrick’s edition of the novel (New York: Henry Holt, 1998). We also are indebted for specific information to Amy Hughes (Brooklyn College), H. Wayne Storey (Indiana University), Martina Werner (D’Youville College), R. D. Madison (University of Arkansas), and Terry Belanger and Tess Goodman (Rare Book School, University of Virginia.) Their assistance is indicated in our notes as appropriate.
This edition was under advanced preparation when we learned that our publishers for fifteen years, the AMS Press, were going into bankruptcy. After several anxious weeks we were delighted when the State University of New York Press, our original publishers, agreed to resume publishing the edition. We are most grateful to the SUNY Press acquisitions editor James Peltz and his associates who have made this transition graciously and efficiently.
We wish to thank Thomas L. Philbrick (emeritus) and Michael Winship (University of Texas at Austin) for comments on early stages of the Historical Introduction. Throughout our work on the Historical Introduction and Explanatory Notes, Wayne Franklin provided us with information, especially on publishing arrangements, new to us based on his ongoing work on the second volume of his biography of Cooper. Upon his publishing James Fenimore Cooper: The Later Years in 2017, he assisted in reorganizing these informative emails with specific references to the final form his scholarship took in his printed volume. For convenience, throughout we reference citations to James Fenimore Cooper: The Later Years as JFC:TLY. We are pleased to dedicate this volume, the 27th in “The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper,” to our gracious colleague Wayne Franklin, in honor of his completing the definitive biography of James Fenimore Cooper.
Historical Introduction
For much of 1842 James Fenimore Cooper was occupied in thinking and writing about ships, sailors, and the sea. On a modest scale, in October he published the first installment of his first experiment in magazine publication—a potential new source of revenue—the life of Richard Somers, the first of ten naval officers whose biographies were published in Graham’s Magazine (1842–1845) and then collectively in 1846 as Lives of Distinguished American Naval Officers . 1 And on his customary large scale of a four hundred and fifty page novel—his main source of income—he published a pair