133

Edward S. Curtis

(1868 - 1952)

The North American Indian: Volume XX, 1930

photogravure on Holland Van Gelder
featuring the Alaskan tribes of the Nunivak, Hooper Bay, King Island, Diomede, Cape Prince of Wales, Kotzebue, Noatak and Selawik tribes.

The North American Indian being a Series of Volumes Picturing and Describing the Indians of the United States, the dominion of Canada and Alaska. Written, Illustrated and Published by Edward S. Curtis. Edited by Fredrick Webb Hodge. Foreward by Theodore Roosevelt. Field Research conducted under the patronage of J. Pierpont Morgan. [Cambridge, Mass.], 1930.

LIMITED EDITION: This volume is unnumbered, printed on handmade Holland Van Gelder etching stock, quarto, top edges gilt, original ¾ brown crushed levant, over beige linen-covered boards, original gilt lettered, raised paneled spine, ribbon bookmark, with photogravure plates by Suffolk Engraving of Boston after photographs by Edward S. Curtis, edited by Frederick Webb Hodge, Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology, field research conducted under the patronage of J. Pierpont Morgan.

TEXT VOLUME: 75 photogravures, including 2 hand-colored plates, and over 300 pages of text and transcriptions of language. Hand letterpress printed on hand-made paper. Hand-bound.
12 3/4 x 10 x 2 3/4 in. (32.4 x 25.4 x 7 cm.)

  • Provenance: The North American Indian, Inc.
    Charles Lauriat Books of Boston
    Private Collector(s)
    Captian Frederick A. Zuesler, USCG (1890-1981)
    Private Collection, Illinois

    The fieldwork for Curtis' 20 volume, 20 portfolio magnum opus, "The North American Indian" came to a close during the summer of 1927, when he spent the season with the Inuit of subarctic and arctic Alaska. Containing 76 images, two of which are beautifully hand-colored, this volume features the Alaskan tribes of the Nunivak, Hooper Bay, King Island, Little Diomede Island, Cape Print of Wales, Kotzebue, Noatak, and the Selawik. Curtis first traveled to Alaska in 1899 when railroad magnate and amateur explorer E.H. Harriman organized an expedition to explore and study the still-remote Alaskan territory, being invited as one of the expedition's two photographers. Curtis' return to Alaska in many ways served as a fitting conclusion to "The North American Indian" project. It not only brought a sense of closure but also likely helped him reflect on and put into perspective the thirty-year journey he had undertaken. As he stated in the introduction to volume twenty, "Great is the satisfaction the writer enjoys when he can at last say to all those whose faith has been unbounded, "It is ?nished."
  • Condition: This original volume is in very good condition overall. Externally, the top-edge gilding is very good, with extremely minor, scattered nicks. The covers show relatively minor wear to the leather at the corners and edges. The spine shows minor, scattered scuffing on the raised bands and the buckram evidences minor wear. There are scattered markings of black ink that affect the bottom deckled-edge of approximately 27 pages. Internally, the volume is relatively clean and bright overall with mostly minor, scattered foxing with a few instances of moderate foxing, as is seen on the frontispiece photogravure. There are very minor interleave transfer marks in the margins of all pages with images, which is very typical in volumes with the Van Gelder etching stock. The photogravures are rich and saturated, with fine highlights and detail, two of which are hand-colored. The binding is strong and intact.
    Overall, a fine example from Curtis' seminal set of The North American Indian.


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