Order of Book Series
0

Leatherstocking Tales Books in Order

Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper contains 5 books, published between 1823 and 1841. The first book is The Pioneers (1823) and the newest is The Pathfinder (1841). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
5
Published
1823–1841
Pages on record
1,780 in 4 of 5 books
Reading time
30–45 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,780 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 4 of 5 titles with a page count on record.

See all 5 books in order Printable Leatherstocking Tales checklist

The Leatherstocking Tales are five novels by James Fenimore Cooper, published between 1823 and 1841 and set in eighteenth-century Central New York, on land that had been Iroquois country. Natty Bumppo appears in all five under a string of names: Leatherstocking and the trapper to European-American settlers, Deerslayer, Hawkeye and La Longue Carabine to others. The Pioneers (1823) came first and The Last of the Mohicans (1826) is the best known. A chronological order exists for the five books alongside their order of publication.

How many Leatherstocking Tales books are there?

Leatherstocking Tales has 5 books, released between 1823 and 1841.

Leatherstocking Tales Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 5 Leatherstocking Tales books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Prairie by James Fenimore Cooper, book 2 of the Leatherstocking Tales series (1824)
  2. Cover of The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, book 3 of the Leatherstocking Tales series (1826)
  3. Cover of The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper, book 4 of the Leatherstocking Tales series (1840)
  4. Cover of The Pathfinder by James Fenimore Cooper, book 5 of the Leatherstocking Tales series (1841)
  1. 1
    The Pioneers1823 · 270 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1823270
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Prairie1824 · 566 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1824566
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Last of the Mohicans1826 · confirmed 2/4
    1826–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Deerslayer1840 · 432 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1840432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Pathfinder1841 · 512 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1841512
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Leatherstocking Tales Books in Chronological Order

In story order, The Deerslayer comes first and The Prairie comes last. Chronological order follows the events inside the story rather than the release dates. The 5 books below run in that in-universe sequence.

  1. 4
    The Deerslayer1840 · 432 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1840432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 3
    The Last of the Mohicans1826 · confirmed 2/4
    1826–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 5
    The Pathfinder1841 · 512 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1841512
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 1
    The Pioneers1823 · 270 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1823270
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 2
    The Prairie1824 · 566 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1824566
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Do you have to read Leatherstocking Tales books in order?

You should read the Leatherstocking Tales books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Leatherstocking Tales book also stands alone.

Where to start with Leatherstocking Tales

Start with The Pioneers (1823), the earliest published title. In the chronological order, The Deerslayer comes first.

What is the newest Leatherstocking Tales book?

The Pathfinder (1841) is the newest Leatherstocking Tales book released so far.

Is there a new Leatherstocking Tales book coming?

No next Leatherstocking Tales book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Leatherstocking Tales at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Leatherstocking Tales title on record dates from 1841, 185 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Leatherstocking Tales books have appeared about one every 5 years on average.
Length
1,780 pages across the 4 of 5 books with a recorded length, a median of 472 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Leatherstocking Tales books, 3 of 5, were published in the 1820s.

What the Leatherstocking Tales books are about

4 of the 5 Leatherstocking Tales books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: frontier and pioneer life is tagged on 3 of 4. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by James Fenimore Cooper

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.