Catlin George (1796-1872)

Catlin, George (1796-1872), Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio. Hunting Scenes and Amusements of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America.....Forty-eight of the Wildest and Most Remote Tribes of Savages in North America , New York: James Ackerman, 1845, first American edition, first issue, original half morocco with marbled boards, with twenty-five hand colored plates heightened with gum arabic, six on buff paper, folio, each plate 15 3/8 by 16 in., (ex-library copy with blindstamps to lower margin slightly affecting the edge of most images, left edge marginal smudging throughout, very light spotting, two plates with very minor tears, binding heavily worn). Howes C-243; Reese issue II:6; Sabin 11532n; Bennett 22. Note: George Catlin's magnificent series of engravings shown here are a part of the legacy by which he will long be remembered as one of the first and most daring of the artists who braved the Central and Northern Plains in an heroic attempt to personalize the Native American tribes of this region. Explorers had, for centuries, traveled the various part of North America with various motives, both savory and unsavory. Fantastical tales of the various tribes, their rituals, dress and ways of life were so shrouded in mystery that Americans and Europeans alike were clamoring for an accurate chronicle of the ways of Native American tribal life. Catlin not only wanted to capture the imagination of the curious public, but also to use the beauty and simplicity of Read more…