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History of the Indian Tribes of North America

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:3,750.00 USD Estimated At:6,000.00 - 9,000.00 USD
History of the Indian Tribes of North America
Historic Americana

“History of the Indian Tribes of North America” by McKenney & Hall Three Volume Set with 120 Images

“History of the Indian Tribes of North America”, 3 Volume Set, containing 120 Hand-colored Portrait Images of Native Americans by McKenney & Hall. Rice & Hart imprint and date of 1855 on the Title page, Reprinted from the 1836-38-44 Folio edition, Very Fine.

Three Volume Set: (1) - 333 pages; (2) - 299 pages; (3) - 392 pages. Illustrated with 121 Lithographed Plates, most Hand-colored, a few Printed in color. (Large 8vo) measuring about 10” x 6.25” with modern Library black boards, spine lettered in gilt. This set is near new but for some scattered dampstain and watermarks. Vol. 1 has some watermarks at lower right, vol. 2 at the inner upper left and vol. 3 mostly 1” across the page top edges. The vast majority of the Hand-color and color plates are simply lovely. Personal, firsthand inspection is recommended for bidders to best attain a full appreciation for the quality of this set.
This is a very famous and absolutely magnificent series of Hand-colored Portraits of the Indians of North America. Reprinted from the 1836-38-44 folio edition, which was described by Field as "one of the most costly and important ever published on the American Indians. The plates are accurate portraits of celebrated chiefs, or of characteristic individuals of the race, and are colored with care, to faithfully represent their features and costumes." Howes notes the plates as "mostly the work of King," and declares that they are "the most colorful portraits of Indians ever executed... The original oil paintings from which the plates were copied were all destroyed in the 1865 Smithsonian fire."
Originally issued in 20 parts over eight years, with various Philadelphia publishers, Biddle being the primary one. The present set states 120 portraits on the title-page, and all are present. Of these, some may bear the imprint of Rice & Rutter, the imprint of J.T. Bowen, or a joint imprint of Rice & Hart/J.T. Bowen, and other plates may have no imprint and are printed in color. Each Volume, 1, 2 & 3 with Rice & Hart imprint and date of 1855 on title page. A quite similar 3 volume set is recorded being sold at Pacific Book Auctions, July 24, 2007, where it sold for $10,200 (including 20% buyer's fee), having gilt edges.

After the larger folio size edition was completed, it was decided to produce an edition in the smaller "royal" octavo size beginning in 1848 with later editions produced from 1854 to 1870. These individual portraits of the important Indian figures of the time are considered today to be the best record of our early American Indian history and a much sought after work among collectors and historians alike. These are beautiful and historical works of art that portray the Native American Indian as he was known to be in the early 1800's. A very rare piece of American & Indian history that is considered one of the best produced lithographic work ever done in America.
From 1816 until 1830, Thomas McKenney was Superintendant of Indian Affairs and one of a very few government officials to defend American Indian interests. When a large delegation of Indians came to see President Monroe in 1821, McKenney commissioned the fashionable portraitist Charles Bird King to paint the principal delegates, dressed in costumes of their choice. The portraits hung in the War Department until 1858, when they were moved to the Smithsonian Institute.
Andrew Jackson dismissed McKenney in 1830, but allowed him to have the portraits copied by Henry Inman, so that lithographs could be made from McKenney's 'Indian Gallery'. Additional images were taken from paintings by James Otto Lewis, George Catlin and other artists. James c. Hall, a Cincinnati judge and novelist, contributed an historical and anecdotal text.
The portfolio nearly bankrupted McKenney as well as the two printing firms who invested in its publication. But their work proved to be much more valuable than they imagined. Catlin's paintings of Indians were destroyed in a warehouse fire; Charles Bird King's portraits and James Otto Lewis' watercolors burned in the Smithsonian fire of 1865. The McKenney and Hall portraits remain as the most complete and colorful record of the native leaders who made the long journey to Washington to speak for their people.