Printed and Manuscript Americana

The Rare Hand-Colored Deluxe Issue

London: Geo. Catlin, (1844). Deluxe hand-colored issue on card. Folio. With 20 pp. letterpress booklet (comprising: title-page, To the Reader, and plate index). Illustrated with 25 hand-colored lithographs, by and after Catlin, as well as J. McGahey; each mounted to ruled card and loose as issued. Together in contemporary cloth-covered board portfolio, morocco cover label, elaborately tooled in gilt, ties intact, morocco spine and tips renewed; scattered light wear and light soiling to plate mount edges and margins; in quarter red morocco solander box. Abbey, Travel 653; Field 258; Howes C-243; McCracken 10; Reese, The Production of Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio, 1844-1876, passim; Sabin 11532; Wagner-Camp 105a:1

A landmark production of American illustration on Native American culture: the rare hand-colored deluxe issue of George Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio, with plates mounted on card.

Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio was the result of years of his painting, living, and traveling among the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains. In another work Catlin describes how the sight of several tribal chiefs in Philadelphia led to his resolution to record their 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 oil paint during the winter. The record he left is unique, both in its breadth and also in the sympathetic understanding that his images constantly demonstrate. A selection of the best images from this record were published in the North American Indian Portfolio in an effort to reach as wide an audience as possible. 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 and examples of Indian crafts, accompanied by representative members of the Indian tribes. 

Catlin published the first two issues of the North American Indian Portfolio simultaneously in late November 1844. The first issue was hand-colored, and the second had tinted plates. Catlin originally envisaged publishing a series of linked but separate portfolios, each
with its own theme: religious rites, dances, costumes, etc. The first series was the only one that was completed, and its production proved to be so taxing, both financially and physically, that Catlin sold both the publication and distribution rights to Henry Bohn.