The Sea Lions
by Cooper, James Fenimore
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On Nov 17, 2010, feeney said
For a laconic but spot-on description of James Fenimore Cooper's late sea adventure novel THE SEA LIONS, I cannot improve on that given on the Cooper Society Website. It reads: "1849 The Sea Lions; or, The Lost Sealers. 1819-20: Long Island and Antarctica; polar adventure and religious regeneration." *** The novel begins in September 1819 in a coastal whaling town at the eastern end of Long Island, New York. Its story climaxes there in April 1821, although the briefly sketched lives of hero, heroine and a simple Godly sailor man remain intertwined for nearly another three decades. *** Weeks earlier, an ailing old whaler named Thomas Daggett had been dropped off by a sailing ship. Tom remains in very ill health and relies on local paid-for charity for lodging and for whatever other care he might get. His plan is to be transported 100 miles east, to die among kinfolk in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. *** Ichabod Pratt, prosperous lay deacon of a New England Puritan sect powerful in those parts, manages to pry from the dying Tom Daggett secret information about a fabulous seal-rich island near the Antarctic Circle south of Cape Horn. Pratt also learns latitude and longitude of pirate treasure buried on a key in the West Indies. The Deacon's besetting, soul-destroying sin of covetousness drives the plot. He causes a small vessel to be built to go in search of both whale oil, seals and buried treasure. Pratt names as master of his vessel, the "Sea Lion," an impressive neighbor, 29 year old Roswell Gardiner. The Deacon's long orphaned 19-year old niece Mary has turned down 20 proposals of marriage by 26-year old Roswell on religious grounds. For Mary believes that Jesus is God and Roswell does not. On all other points of Christian theology they are one. *** After old Tom Daggett dies, a nephew from Martha's Vineyard, Captain Jason Daggett, who has heard rumors of Tom's treasures, collects old Tom's charts (partly but clandestinely obliterated by the Deacon), from a battered sea chest in the care of Deacon Pratt. gathers a crew of his own and shadows young Gardiner in a twin ship also called "Sea Lion" down into Antarctic waters. Both ships become avoidably trapped in the ice and their crews of around 30 men spend the winter of 1820-21 trying with far from complete success to stay warm and alive. *** Despite privations, Captain Roswell Gardiner keeps Sabbath, reads the Bible Mary gave him (with key underlined passages) and debates God's Providence and the Incarnation of the Son of God with simple boatsman Stephen SImpson. Roswell's abiding difficulty is: "believing in a Deity he could not comprehend; meaning merely that his reason must be satisfied in a doctrine like that of the Incarnation" (Ch. 25). Some of the sealers return to Long Island in 1821 just in time for Roswell Gardiner to reach the deathbed of Deacon Pratt as his greedy relatives gather to see if he has left a will. *** I pray that this sketch is enough to help you decide if you want to read THE SEA LIONS. I hope that you do. The descriptions of life of sealers trapped near the Antarctic Circle are enough to make me thankful for my warm home. Theology (an intricate Christian apology for belief in Jesus as the atoning Son of God and in God's Providence) is extensively discussed and is integral to the plot. -OOO-
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The Sea-Lions; or, The Lost Sealers
by Cooper, James Fenimore
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- 1873
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New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1873. Title page dated 1873. Attractively bound in three quarter tan calf leather over marbled boards, dual spine labels in black and gilt, slightly raised spine bands with gilt decorated compartments, marbled edges and endpapers, illustrated with small engravings. Good to very good condition with some edgewear and rubbing, rubs to spine labels, good… Read more about this item Item Price
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SEA LIONS; OR, THE LOST SEALERS
by COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE
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- 1860
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NEW YORK: W. A. TOWNSEND & COMPANY. G IN BROWN CLOTH W/GILT LETTERING. NO DJ. X-LIBRARY, USUAL MARKS. Pages: 490. . 1860. HARDCOVER.. LIGHTLY EDGEWORN, SCUFFED & SOILED, SMALL CHIP AT UPPER SPINE. P. O. INSCRIPTION FFEP. PAGES CLEAN, BINDING TIGHT. . Item Price
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The Sea-Lions; or the Lost Sealers - two volumes in wraps
by Cooper, James Fenimore
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- 1849
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New York: Stringer & Townsend, 1849. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Soft cover. Good/No Jacket. Scarce two volume edition in wraps. Expert repairs including resewing, closed tears, and replacement spines. Covers chipped at all edges, but both front and rear wraps present for both volumes.
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Sea Lions; or The Lost Sealers
by Cooper, James Fenimore
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- 1860
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New York: W. A. Townsend and Company, 1860 Dark cloth stamped in gilt on spine and front with blindstamp on front and back. 8vo. 8" tall. Illustrated from drawings by Darley - two nicely engraved frontispieces printed on heavy paper with tissue. Tightly bound. 490 pages. Clean. Some wear at corners of cover. 2" at base of spine markered in… Read more about this item Item Price
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The sea lions (A Bison book)
by James Fenimore Cooper
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The Sea-Lions; or, the Lost Sealers. by J. Fenimore Cooper.
by James Fenimore Cooper
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The Sea Lions; or, the Lost Sealers. by J. Fenimore Cooper.
by James Fenimore Cooper
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The Sea Lions: The Lost Sealers
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The Sea Lions: The Lost Sealers
by James Fenimore Cooper
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The Sea Lions
by James Fenimore Cooper
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The Sea Lions; Or, the Lost Sealers. With an Introd. by Susan Fenimore Cooper
by James Fenimore Cooper
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The Sea Lions
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The Sea Lions: The Lost Sealers
by James Fenimore Cooper
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The Sea Lions: The Lost Sealers
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The Sea Lions: The Lost Sealers
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The Sea Lions
by James Fenimore Cooper
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The Sea Lions
by Cooper, James Fenimore
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The Sea Lions: The Lost Sealers
by James Fenimore Cooper
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The Sea Lions (Esprios Classics): or, The Lost Sealers
by James Fenimore Cooper
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