Lot Details
Lot 193
MCKENNEY, THOMAS L. and HALL, JAMES History of the Indian Tribes of North America...
J. T. Bowen: Philadelphia, 1848, 1849, 1850. The first octavo edition. Three volumes, black pebbled calf over marbled boards, neatly rebacked retaining original boards, marbled edges. 10 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches (26 x 16 cm); iv, 333 pp.; xviii, 11-290 pp.; iv, 17-392 pp.; with a total of 120 hand-colored plates, plus the colored dedication lithograph to Washington. Some wear to the covers, rebacked as noted, the hinges at the (apparently original) marbled endpapers reinforced with cloth, but withal a sound, clean example internally. Some (generally minor) toning and spotting to the text as usual, a few plate imprints slightly shaved, but though the tissue guards are occasionally foxed and discolored, almost all the plates are free from foxing and other defects.
This is one of the finest American color plate books of the period, in which most of the plates are after the paintings rendered (at McKenney's behest) by the artist Charles Bird King. Most of King's portraits were lost in the 1865 Smithsonian fire, so this work not only preserves the likeness of Native American leaders of the period, but is also a significant American art historical document. Field 992: "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." Sabin 43411; Howes M129.
C
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