Catlin's Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe, with his North American Indian Collection: With Anecdotes and Incidents of the Travels and Adventures of Three Different Parties of American Indians, whom he introduced to the Courts of England, France, and Belgium.

CATLIN, George.

Published by London: published by the author, 1848

About this Item

First British edition, finely bound. Catlin's Notes recorded his experience of travelling Europe accompanied by several Native Americans and is "a readable and revealing book in the classic satirical vein of the visitor from a foreign culture commenting on the peculiarities of civilized society" (Dippie, p. 467). A young lawyer turned portraitist, George Catlin (1796-1872) set out in 1830 from his home in Pennsylvania to paint Native Americans and their way of life. Catlin's eight years among the major tribes of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains resulted in his "Indian Gallery", an enormous collection of artefacts and more than 400 paintings, including portraits and scenes of tribal life. "The history and the customs of such a people", Catlin wrote, "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 becoming their historian" (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, p. 2). Field 256; Sabin 11533. George Catlin, Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians, 1841; Brian W. Dippie, Catlin and his Contemporaries, 1990. 2 vols, octavo (222 x 147 mm). With 24 plates, including frontispiece with tissue guard to vol. I. Twentieth-century red calf by Bayntun, spines in gilt compartments with portrait ornaments of a Native American in ceremonial dress, green morocco labels, foliate gilt frames to covers with portrait cornerpieces, board edges and turn-ins tooled in gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt, red silk bookmarkers. With original cloth front covers bound in at rear. Spines slightly toned, board joints repaired, extremities worn and occasionally retouched, a couple of small marks to cover of vol. I, contents clean: a very good set.

Seller Inventory # 179432

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Catlin's Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe, with his North American Indian Collection: With Anecdotes and Incidents of the Travels and Adventures of Three Different Parties of American Indians, whom he introduced to the Courts of England, France, and Belgium.
• Publisher: London: published by the author, 1848