James Fenimore Cooper 
Ned Myers; or, A Life Before the Mast 
Biographical Account of Ned Myers‘ Life as an American Sailor, Annotated

• Historical Context: About the Author


• Historical Context: Timeline


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AMERICAN SAILOR Ned Myers (b. 1793) lived during tumultuous times, surviving the War of 1812 and the sinking of the USS Scourge.  

well-known American author JAMES FENIMORE COOPER, best known as the author of the Leatherstocking Tales.

Ned Myers: or, A Life Before the Mast,  is a biographical account by American author JAMES FENIMORE COOPER, published in 1843 in the UNITED STATES.

Ned Myers (born 1793) was an American sailor. Born in Quebec as a British subject, Myers grew up in Halifax after being abandoned by his father. He moved to New York City at the age of eleven, cherishing the dream of becoming a sailor. Two years later, while serving aboard the merchant ship Sterling, Myers would meet James Fenimore Cooper, who would later write a biography of him titled ‚Ned Myers, or, a Life Before the Mast‘ (1843). Myers rejected his status as a British subject and became an American citizen, something that would cause him trouble when he was captured by a Royal Navy warship in the summer of 1812. He was a survivor of the sinking of the USS Scourge. However, Myers would live through the War of 1812, meeting with Cooper in 1843 for the authoring of his biography.

‚First, then, as to the writer’s own knowledge of the career of the subject of his present work. In the year 1806, the editor, then a lad, fresh from Yale, and destined for the navy, made his first voyage in a merchantman, with a view to get some practical knowledge of his profession. This was the fashion of the day, though its utility, on the whole, may very well be questioned. The voyage was a long one, including some six or eight passages, and extending to near the close of the year 1807. On board the ship was Myers, an apprentice to the captain. Ned, as Myers was uniformly called, was a lad, as well as the writer; and, as a matter of course, the intimacy of a ship existed between them. Ned, however, was the junior, and was not then compelled to face all the hardships and servitude that fell to the lot of the writer.

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• Originally published in 1843


• Biographical narrative

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