‎"COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE.‎
‎Havfruen eller Söskummeren. En Fortælling. Overs. af Frederik Schaldemose. 3 vols (i.e. English: ""The Water-Witch, or the Skimmer of the Seas"") - [FIRST DANISH TRANSLATION]‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, A.P. Liunge & C.F. Guntelberg, 1831. 8vo. Three parts bound in one contemporary half calf binding with gilt lettering to spine. Binding with light wear, inner hinges split. Part of outer margin of title-page of part 1 cut off, with loss of the letter r in ""Cooper"". Otherwise internally nice and clean. (2), 143, (5), 158, (4), 193 pp. ‎

Reference : 63402

‎Exceedingly rare first Danish translation of Cooper’s The Water-Witch - one of the great rarities in American literature. The novel is a romantic sea-tale set around the waters of New York and New Jersey, blending Cooper’s fascination with maritime adventure and piracy with a mysterious, almost supernatural aura surrounding the enigmatic Water-Witch. Though often overlooked beside the ”Leatherstocking Tales”, the novel is one of Cooper’s boldest experiments in genre, combining nautical realism with elements of allegory and Gothic romance. Written during Cooper’s European stays in Naples, ”The Water-Witch” was first published in Dresden in September 1830, preceding both the English and American editions. The Dresden printing is legendary in American bibliography: only sixteen copies are known to exist, with twelve held institutionally (OCLC and KVK), and a mere four appearances at auction within the last thirty-five years - ”So scarce was the edition that Cooper’s own daughter, Susan Fenimore Cooper, could write in 1886: “I do not know of any copies of the Dresden edition now existing” (letter to Rev. Richard Salter Storrs, October 4, 1886). It was reprinted in 1836. OCLC only list two copies, both in Denmark. Not in Biblioteca Danica.‎