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CD Collections Map Collections Photo Collections |
This is a must have collection for any American Indian history buff! Here
are the computer requirements to run and operate this CD. You
must have a PC running Windows software and a web browser. (The
CD can also be run on a Macintosh in PC emulation mode and on
most newer Macintosh computers in Native Mac mode.)
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This
digital collection in CD presents the 2226 illustrations from
The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis. Many
of the striking images from The North American Indian
have been reproduced widely, especially since the 1970s. While
there is controversy about how Curtis romanticized American
Indian culture, the intention of this digital collection is
to present all of the published images in their entirety, with
comprehensive identifying data including plate numbering, dimensions,
and the original captions by Curtis. It is hoped that the viewer
may get a sense of the content of the rare original volumes,
in order to develop an informed understanding of Curtis and
his project. 
The
North American Indian (1907-1930), by Edward S. Curtis,
was published in a limited edition and sold by subscription.
The lavishly illustrated volumes were printed on the finest
paper and bound in expensive leather, making the price prohibitive
for all but the most avid collectors and libraries. Subscriptions
sold for about $3,000 in 1907; the price rose to about $4,200
by 1924. Although the plan was to sell 500 sets, it appears
that Curtis secured only about 227 subscriptions over the course
of the project.
In 1935 the assets of the project were liquidated, and the remaining
materials were sold to the Charles Lauriat Company, a rare book
dealer in Boston. Lauriat acquired nineteen unsold sets of The
North American Indian, thousands of individual prints, sheets
of unbound paper, and the handmade copper photogravure plates.
They lay forgotten in the bookstore's basement until their rediscovery
in the 1970s, which marked the revival of interest in Curtis'
haunting images of American Indians. 
Each
volume measures 12 3/4 inches high, 10 1/4 inches wide and about
3 2/5 inches thick. Each is bound in half leather, that is,
the spine and the four corners of the front and back covers
are covered in a high quality brown Levant morocco leather.
The covers themselves are laminated binders board; the central
panel on each board is covered with a heavy tan cloth. The text
block within each volume measures 11 1/2 inches high, 9 1/2
inches wide and 2 to 2 1/2 inches thick; the text itself occupies
an area 8 1/8 inches high by 5 inches wide on each page. Each
volume has in gold foil stamping on the spine a simple line
decoration with the set's title at the top, the author, volume
number
in roman numerals, tribe(s) in the volume and the publication
date of the volume at the foot of the spine. The entire edition
was bound by H. Blackwell, whose mark appears at the top of
the front free endpaper. 