''The Water-Witch'' is an 1830 novel by James Fenimore Cooper. Set in 17th-century New York and the surrounding sea, the novel depicts the abduction of a woman, Alida de Barbérie, by the pirate captain of the brigantine ''Water-Witch'', and the subsequent pursuit of that elusive ship by her suitor, Captain Ludlow. Cooper wrote the novel while on an extended tour of Europe, during his stay in the villa Palazzu detta del Tasso near

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. Cooper tried to print the novel while he was in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1829 but Papal censors forbade its publication there. He was eventually able to print the novel in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

before also sending copies to his publishers in the US and England. Critic Allan Axelrod describes the novel as heavily influenced by the Italian context of its writing, noting that it even compares the landscapes of New York with that of Italy. The unincorporated community of Waterwitch, New Jersey is named after the novel.

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Scans and transcription of the Original Dresden printing of the novel
Novels by James Fenimore Cooper 1830 American novels Novels set in the 17th century Novels about pirates {{1830s-novel-stub

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