{This text has been transcribed, corrected, and annotated from itsoriginal periodical appearance in Graham's Magazine (Jan.-Apr. 1843),by Hugh C. MacDougall, Secretary of the James Fenimore Cooper Society(jfcooper@wpe.com), who welcomes corrections or emendations.}
{Introductory Note: "Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief" was JamesFenimore Cooper's first serious attempt at magazine writing, andGraham's Magazine would publish other contributions from him over thenext few years, notably a series of biographic sketches of Americannaval officers, and the novel "Jack Tier; or The Florida Reef"(1846-1848). Though hardly one of Cooper's greatest works,"Autobiography" remains significant because of: (1) its unusualnarrator—an embroidered pocket-handkerchief—that is surely the firstof its kind; (2) its critique of economic exploitation in France and ofthe crass commercial climate of ante-bellum America; and, (3) itsconstant exploration of American social, moral, and cultural issues.This said, it must be admitted that the telling of Adrienne's sadplight in Paris becomes a bit overwrought; and that the inept wooing ofMary Monson by the social cad Tom Thurston is so drawn out andsarcastic as to suggest snobbery on Cooper's part as well as on that ofhis elite hanky. Finally, the heroine-handkerchief's protracted failureto recognize her maker, when she has proved so sensitive to hersurroundings in every other fashion, is simply unbelievable. Still,there is enough to reward today's reader, if only in the story's unique"point of view" and in the recognizable foibles of Henry Halfacre andhis social-climbing daughter.}
{The text is taken from the novelette's original appearance in Graham'sMagazine, Vol. XXII, pp. 1-18, 89-102, 158-167, 205-213 (January-April)1843. "Autobiography" was simultaneously issued as a separate number ofBrother Jonathan magazine (March 22, 1843), under the title "LeMouchoir: An Autobiographical Romance." Also in 1843 it was publishedin London by Richard Bentley as "The French Governess; or, theEmbroidered Handkerchief." A German translation quickly followed, as"Die franzosischer Erzieheren, oder das gestickte Taschentuch"(Stuttgart: Lieschning, 1845, reprinted 1849). Interest in the bookthen lapsed. The Brother Jonathan and Bentley editions divided thestory into 18 chapters (as we have in this transcription).}
{At the end of the century a limited scholarly edition (500 copies)appeared, edited by Walter Lee Brown, the first scholarly treatment ofany Cooper work, noting variations between the original manuscript andthe various published texts: "Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief"(Evanston, IL: The Golden-Booke Press, 1897). Another edition,unannotated and taken from the Graham's Magazine version, was printedhalf a century later as a Festschrift (farewell testimonial) forretiring Cooper scholar Gregory Lansing Paine of the University ofNorth Carolina: "Autobiography of A Pocket-Handkerchief" (Chapel Hill:Privately printed, 1949). "Autobiography" was never included inpublished collections of James Fenimore Cooper's "Works," and thisscarcity is an important reason for making it available to scholarseverywhere through the Gutenberg Project.}
{Because of the limitations imposed by the Gutenberg Project format,italics used by Cooper to indicate foreign words are ignored, as areaccents; while italics Cooper used for emphasis are usually i