Though The Deerslayer (1841) was the last of James Fenimore Cooper’s five Leatherstocking Tales to be written, it is the first in the chronology of Natty Bumppo’s life. Set in the 1740s before the start of the French and Indian War, when Cooper’s rugged frontiersman is in his twenties, Cooper’s novel shows us how “Deerslayer” becomes “Hawkeye.” It remains the best point of entry into the series for modern readers. As regards the Publisher, Thomas Nelson Sr. founded the shop that bears his name in Edinburgh in 1798, originally as a second-hand bookshop at 2 West Bow, just off the city\'s Grassmarket, recognizing a ready market for inexpensive, standard editions of non-copyright works which he attempted to satisfy by publishing reprints of classics. By 1822 the shop had moved to 9 West Bow plus a second shop had opened at 230 High Street, on the Royal Mile.The firm became a publisher of new books and, as the 19th century progressed, it produced an increasingly wide range of non-religious materials; by 1881, religion accounted for less than 6% of the firm\'s output. Its Hope Park Works in Edinburgh burned down in 1878. In 1962, Thomas Nelson and Sons was absorbed into the Thomson Organisation in an effort to sustain its academic and educational publishing interests on a global scale. Reprint, possibly from early 1920\'s onwards. In reasonable condition, page 63 has come away from binding as image shows. Spine ok, though latter pages not gripped as earlier pages. It\'s been a gift, as the notations on inner two pages suggests.