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CATLIN, George.
North American Indians.
Being Letters And Notes On Their Manners, Customs, And Conditions, Written During Their Eight Years' Travel Amongst The Wildest Tribes Of Indians In North America. 1832-1839.
A young lawyer turned portraitist, Catlin set out in 1830 from his home in Pennsylvania to record on canvas the indigenous tribes of North America and their way of life. His eight years among the major tribes of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains resulted in his "Indian Gallery," an enormous collection of artefacts as well as more than four hundred paintings, including portraits and scenes of tribal life. The resultant book, first published with uncoloured plates in 1841, is "one of the most original, authentic and popular works on the subject" (Sabin). "The history and the customs of such a people," Catlin wrote, "preserved by pictorial illustrations, are themes worthy of the lifetime of one man, and nothing short of the loss of my life, shall prevent me from becoming their historian" (Hassrick).
2 volumes, large octavo. Original pictorial red cloth, with titles gilt to spine and upper cover, with pictorial decoration in gilt and black, top edge gilt, others uncut. Over 300 colour illustrations on 180 plates, including 3 maps, one coloured and folding. A little crumpling at head and tail of the spine, light marginal toning, but an extremely bright set and handsome thus.
