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Though Satanstoe has been too much neglected by readers of Cooper's time and ours, it is one of his most interesting books, combining nostalgic autobiographical recollections, pictures of manners, action and adventure, and social philosophy in one of the author's happiest experiments in fiction. Ostensibly, it gives a comprehensive view of colonial life and society in New York State in the middle of the eighteenth century, blending all these elements with the narrative skill for which the author has always been famous.
"Satanstoe (1845) is perhaps Cooper's best novel after the Leatherstocking Tales. The pastoral picture it gives of colonial life, particularly among the Dutch settlers at Albany, reminds one of The Pioneers." — Marius Bewley, The Eccentric Design: Form in the Classic American Novel
"Much of the time in this charming book, Satanstoe, which George Sand thought one of his best, Cooper is on holiday from his more strenuous ideas. Taking advantage of this point of view as a pre-Revolutionary New Yorker, he enjoys living in the cozy province that speaks so warmly of England as home and trusts the mother country unhesitatingly, certain of her superior wisdom and ability." — James Grossman, James Fenimore Cooper
Acknowledgements
Illustrations
Historical Introduction
Preface
Satanstoe, or The Littlepage Manuscripts
Explanatory Notes
Textual Commentary
Note on the Manuscript
Textual Notes
Emendations
Rejected Readings
Word-Division