Lederstrumpfbrunnen Lederstrumpfbrunnen The Lederstrumpfbrunnen (literally: "leatherstocking fountain") is a fountain in the German city of Edenkoben. It commemorates the frontiersman Johann Adam Hartmann (1748-1836), who was born in this city and considered by some as a possible inspiration for the character Natty Bumppo of the Leatherstocking Tales novels by the American writer James Fenimore Cooper. The three main sculptures around the fountain are Hartman/Bumppo depicted as a hunter with a rifle and accompanied by a dog, the Indian chief Chingachgook (another famous character from the novels) and the artist Max Slevogt (1868-1932), who created some of the best known illustrations for
The Canterbury Tales that the greatest contribution of "The Canterbury Tales" to English literature was the popularisation of the English vernacular in mainstream literature, as opposed to French, Italian or Latin. English had, however, been used as a literary language centuries before Chaucer's time, and several of Chaucer's contemporaries—John Gower, William Langland, the Pearl Poet, and Julian of Norwich—also wrote major literary works in English. It is unclear to what extent Chaucer was seminal in this evolution of literary preference. While Chaucer clearly states the addressees of many of his poems, the intended audience of "The Canterbury Tales" is more difficult to determine.