The 1845 Rendering:

The Premise of Authorship

"If it was Cooper, do the pieces fall in place?"

 

What follow are twenty speculative but carefully researched articles by Norman Barry. Each of the articles will begin with the assumption that James Fenimore Cooper is the only viable candidate for authorship of "The Helmsman of Lake Erie." If only some of the pieces fall in place, that assumption must be viewed as mistaken. If most of the pieces fall in place, it will be viewed as likely. But if all the pieces fall in place, we are no longer dealing with an assumption, but a fact. The tenth article deals with the popular rumor that Charles Dickens might have written "The Helmsman of Lake Erie." The recently added (Oct., 2018) first article is a response to the discovery that the earliest known publication of "The Helmsman of Lake Erie" has been found in The Church of England Magazine, an unexpected development that that could cause one to question Cooper's authorship. Check it out. Norman might convince you that there's good evidence that Cooper could have published first in England.

 

 

I) TWO TRANSATLANTIC PASSAGES: THE CONVOLUTED PATH OF "THE HELMSMAN OF LAKE ERIE" TO POUGHKEEPSIE

A TIMEFRAME FOR SMUGGLING A MANUSCRIPT INTO ENGLAND

 

II) THE BATTLE OF THE HEROES: THE CREATION OF A NEW HERO OF LAKE ERIE IN THE BACKDROP OF THE YEAR 1845: THE JACKSON - ELLIOTT - COOPER CONNECTION Below are files of historical newspaper articles, which supplement the essay:

E : The Jesse Duncan Elliott File
J : The Death of General Andrew Jackson
M : The Gansevoort Melville Folder

 

III) THE AUTHOR'S SIGNATURE: THE GOOD SHIP JERSEY IN "THE HELMSMAN OF LAKE ERIE," AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF NEW JERSEY IN THE WORKS OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER

 

IV) "THE HELMSMAN OF LAKE ERIE" IN LIGHT OF THE ROLE PLAYED BY RELIGION IN THE FICTIONAL WRITING OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER -- OR, THE SECRET WHY THE GOOD MAN, WHEN DYING, DOES NOT GROAN

 

V) THE SURNAME MAYNARD IN THE CONTEXT OF THE TALES OF TWO LUCYS: MISS MARTHA RUSSELL'S "LUCY MAYNARD" AND LUCY HARDINGE IN JAMES FENIMORE COOPER'S AFLOAT AND ASHORE OR, THE ADVENTURES OF MILES WALLINGFORD

LUCY MAYNARD, by Miss Martha Russell, from the Columbian [Lady's and Gentleman's] Magazine for April, 1844, transcribed by NORMAN BARRY. This is referred to in the essay above.

 

VI) JAMES FENIMORE COOPER'S THE HEADSMAN; OR, THE ABBAYE DES VIGNERONS AND THE LEGEND OF ARNOLD VON WINKELRIED: JOHN MAYNARD'S EUROPEAN ROOTS

An historical ballad entitled "Arnold de Winkelried" by Sara Jane Lippincott (1823 - 1904) was published in Sartain's Union Magazine of Literature and Art (Philadelphia), Vol. VII, January - June, 1850, under the pseudonym "Grace Greenwood." For biographical information concerning Grace Greenwood, refer to Wikipedia.

"The Ancient Song of Sempach" and "The Final Word" on the Historicity of Arnold von Winkelried.

Photo taken by Monika Kaiser of a small handmade Swiss national flag with the name "WINKELRIED," the year "1386," and the setting "Sempach" on it.

NEW! The Coopers' Stay at La Lorraine, 1828 by Norman Barry.

 

VII) A LANGUAGE COMPARISON OF THE WRITINGS OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER AND "THE HELMSMAN OF LAKE ERIE"

 

VIII) THE ROAD TO BALTIMORE IN THE LIVES OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER AND BENJAMIN BROWN FRENCH: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PLACE OF PUBLICATION OF A LAKE ERIE SKETCH AND BALLAD

 

IX) THE POUGHKEEPSIE FACTOR: THE LINK TO JAMES FENIMORE COOPER?

 

X) WHO WROTE "THE HELMSMAN OF LAKE ERIE?" AN EXAMINATION OF TWO CANDIDATES: CHARLES DICKENS AND JAMES FENIMORE COOPER

 

XI) THE IMPACT OF SIR WALTER SCOTT'S THE PIRATE AND THE MINOR CHARACTER DICK FLETCHER ON THE CREATIVE IMAGINATION OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER

 

XII) JAMES FENIMORE COOPER'S LONG TOM COFFIN & DAVID BOLTROPE COMPARED WITH SIR WALTER SCOTT'S DICK FLETCHER AND JOHN MAYNARD, THE HELMSMAN OF LAKE ERIE

 

XIII) SATANSTOE; OR, BY PLAYING THE DEVIL, HOW TO TURN HISTORY UPSIDE DOWN

 

XIV) THE HEIDENMAUER: OR, HAVE WE PROGRESSED BEYOND THE PAGANS? PUBLISHED IN THE JAMES FENIMORE COOPER SOCIETY JOURNAL (VOL. XXXII, NO. 1, SPRING/SUMMER 2021)

 

XV) JAMES FENIMORE COOPER'S PERSONAL LINKS TO THE 1841 ERIE AND 1845 SWALLOW TRAGEDIES

James Fenimore Cooper and Judge Samuel Nelson: Excerpts from Cooper's Letters and Journal

 

XVI) FROM PERSUASION TO PRECAUTION: THE DIFFERENCE (see an explanation of this title )

 

XVII) THE DEAD MAN AT THE WHEEL IN COOPER'S HOMEWARD BOUND (1838), AN EXCERPT (The story of a dead helmsman who remained at his post, written seven years before the prose story, "The Helmsman of Lake Erie," appeared in print -- with an introduction by Norman Barry.)

XVIII) A VERY PLAIN TALE -- COOPER'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

XIX) NEW! IS THERE A JOHN MAYNARD IN THE REDSKINS?

For a comprehensive analysis of The Redskins, here is Norman's article, "Incongruities in The Redskins," published in The James Fenimore Cooper Society Journal, Vol. XXXIII, No. 2, Fall/Winter 2022.

 

XX) NEW! POINTS OF CONTACT IN THE WORKS OF CAPTAIN FREDERICK MARRYAT AND JAMES FENIMORE COOPER: TWO CANDIDATES FOR "THE HELMSMAN OF LAKE ERIE"

 

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