James Fenimore Cooper

1789 (Burlington, N.J.) – 1851 (Cooperstown, N.Y.)

Cooper, his wife and daughter are all represented in Morse’s best-known painting, ‘The Gallery at the Louvre.’ They’d been friends for a decade, Morse being a member of Cooper’s Bread and Cheese Club in New York, and Cooper’s daughter taking drawing lessons from Morse. Cooper befriended Scott (whose work had been a strong influence) when in Europe around 1830. Somerville had found him touchy in London, but warmed to him in Paris. Da Ponte (towards the end of his life, now in America) became an acquaintance of Cooper and other American literary figures.