CATLIN'S NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN PORTFOLIO. HUNTING SCENES AND AMUSEMENTS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS AND PRAIRIES OF AMERICA....
Catlin, George:
[London: Chatto & Windus, nd, but 1875]. Thirty-one handcolored lithographs after Catlin and McGahey. Folio, 23 x 15 3/4 inches. Expertly bound to style in dark red/brown straight-grained morocco over contemporary green bubble-grained cloth, upper cover with onset original red/brown straight-grained morocco title label with elaborately tooled border, the flat spine lettered in gilt. Very good. The complete set of plates from the first complete edition of the CATLIN'S NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN PORTFOLIO.' This edition of Catlin's famous work on American Indians includes the rare six unnumbered lithographs, comprising two portraits, a group portrait of Ojibways, two tribal dance scenes, and a hunting scene. These six plates were evidently executed in the 1840s when Catlin envisioned a series of Indian "Portfolios," but they were not printed and issued until Chatto & Windus acquired Henry Bohn's stock of, and copyright for, CATLIN'S NORTH AMERICA INDIAN PORTFOLIO in 1871. CATLIN'S NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN PORTFOLIO contains the results of his years of painting, living with and travelling amongst the Great Plains Indians. In a famous passage from the preface, Catlin describes how the sight of several Indian chiefs in Philadelphia led to his resolution to record their vanishing way of life: "the history and customs of such a people, 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 visiting their country and becoming their historian." From 1832 to 1837 he spent the summer months sketching the tribes and then finished his pictures in oils during the winter. He painted around 600 highly realistic and powerfully projected portraits of Indians, carefully recording their costume, culture and way of life. In addition to publishing the present work, Catlin also spent from 1837 to 1852 touring the United States, England, France and Holland with his collection of paintings, examples of Indian crafts and accompanied by representative members of the Indian tribes. A financial reversal in 1852 meant that he lost the collection, but he spent his later years making several trips to South and Central America, sketching the natives there. Research by William Reese has demonstrated that the 31- plate issue of the PORTFOLIO was not produced until the firm of Chatto & Windus purchased the copyright to the book from famed bookseller Henry Bohn. According to the Chatto & Windus records, which survive, these were printed from the original lithographic stones, in 1875. The 31-plate issue is far rarer than any of the 25-plate issues, and only in this format can the extra six plates be found. The plates are as follows: 1) "North American Indians." 2) "Buffalo Bull Grazing." 3) "Wild Horses, at Play." 4) "Catching the Wild Horse." 5) "Buffalo Hunt, Chase." 6) "Buffalo Hunt, Chase." 7) "Buffalo Hunt, Chase." 8) "Buffalo Dance." 9) "Buffalo Hunt, Surround." 10) "Buffalo Hunt, White Wolves attacking a Buffalo Bull." 11) "Buffalo Hunt, Approaching a Ravine." 12) "Buffalo Hunt, Chasing Back." 13) "Buffalo Hunt, Under the White Wolf Skin." 14) "Snow Shoe Dance." 15) "Buffalo Hunt, on Snow Shoes." 16) "Wounded Buffalo Bull." 17) "Dying Buffalo Bull, in Snow Drift." 18) "The Bear Dance." 19) "Attacking the Grizzly Bear." 20) "Antelope Shooting." 21) "Ball Players." 22) "Ball-Play Dance." 23) "Ball Play." 24) "Archery of the Mandans." 25) "Wi-Jun-Jon an Assiniboine Chief." [unnumbered] "Joc-O-Sot, the Walking Bear." [unnumbered] "Mah-To-Toh-Pah, The Mandan Chief." [unnumbered] "O-Jib-Be-Ways." [unnumbered] "Buffaloe Hunting." [unnumbered] "The War Dance." [unnumbered] "The Scalp Dance." WAGNER-CAMP 105a. HOWES C243. FIELD 258. ABBEY 653 (ref). SABIN (25 plates). McCRACKEN 10. William S. Reese, "The Production of Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio, 1844-1876."
(Item ID: WRCAM31154B) $165,000.00