Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper - "A Lady - 1850

Nice condition RARE copy of "RURAL HOURS" by A Lady (Susan Fenimore Cooper, daughter of novelist James Fenimore Cooper). 1850 scarce 1st edition; George P. Putnam; New York. Three-quarter leather binding with marbled covers, marbled end papers and marbled page edges on all sides; raised bands on the spine. Rural Hours is one of the earliest pieces of American nature writing and the first by a woman. The book is based on the journal she kept in 1848-1849, minutely describing the animals, birds, insects, trees, crops, flowers, etc. in and around the village of "Cooperstown" through the four seasons of the year, embellished with warm accounts of village life.

From the Preface:
"The following notes contain, in a journal form, the simple record of those little events which make up the course of the seasons in rural life, and were commenced two years since, in the spring of 1848, for the writer's amusement. In wandering about the fields, during a long, unbroken residence in the country, one naturally gleans many trifling observations on rustic matters, which are afterward remembered with pleasure by the fire-side, and gladly shared, perhaps, with one's friends."

Here are a few examples of the contents: Spring, Indians, The Robin, Maple Sugar, A Ramble in the Woods, Wind and Rain, Purple Finches, Humming-Birds, Pumpkin-Pies, Autumn, Christmas, The Forest, Squirrels, The Farm-House, The Spider, The Beauty of the Rose, Santa Claus...and dozens more

Condition:
Some rubbing to the marbled covers and light wear to the leather corners; tiny chip at the top edge of the spine. Tight binding. No cracks. No loose pages. The text pages are mostly clean with no stains or tears; there is some light foxing (mostly at the upper and outer margins) of random pages throughout - heavier foxing to the front and rear end papers; "Tongue Mountains" written in pencil on page 89...no other writing found. A newspaper clipping (about a lecture on the subject "Amid Memories of Cooper") from 1905 has been pasted to the blank end paper opposite the title page. Inscription written in pencil on a front end paper. Overall the book is in very good condition.