Bidspirit auction | E Curtis, Folio, Japanese Tissue

E Curtis, Folio, Japanese Tissue - Swallow Bird - Apsaroke - This moving photogravure is from Edward Curtis's The North American Indian being a Series of Volumes Picturing and Describing the Indians of the United States and Alaska. Edited by Frederick Webb Hodge. Foreword by Theodore Roosevelt. Field Research conducted under the patronage of J. Pierpont Morgan . The work was published in 1908 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This was part of a proposed edition of 500 (though about 272 sets are believed to be completed). This photogravure is on Japanese Gampi tissue on support sheets as issued with Curtis's credit, printer's credit, title, copyright date, and plate number printed on recto. They are on the original overmats. The Japanese tissue issue was produced in the smallest number at great expense. It is the most rare issue of his photogravures. The tissue provides a truly refined presentation of Curtis's images. The picture shown is with a presentation mat over the original issue overmats. Curtis's work was a remarkable record of native American life and one of the most ambitious anthropological studies done. W. H. Holmes, Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1910, stated that this ”publication should last for a thousand years.” The North American Indian was referred to as “the most gigantic undertaking since the making of the King James Edition of the Bible” and containing “the most exquisite book art of our time.” Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) was an American photographer and ultimately historian of the American West. He travelled extensively for three decades living with the Native American tribes. He immersed himself in their customs, languages and beliefs. He detailed and photographed the tribes creating a truly comprehensive look into their lives. Paper Size: ~ 18 1/8” by 22 1/2” Paper Type or Special Features: Folio Photogravure on Original Overmat / Archivally Matted