"Edward Sheriff Curtis: Visions of a Vanishing Race" by Florence Curtis Graybill & Victor Boesen. NY: Thomas Y. Crowell, (1976). First edition
The photo on the cover is that of Black Eagle, Assiniboin Chief in 1908.
Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868 - 1952) was an American ethnologist and photographer of the American West and of Native American peoples. In 1906, J. P. Morgan provided Curtis with $75,000 to produce a series on Native Americans. This work was to be in 20 volumes with 1,500 photographs and the project was to last more than 20 years.
222 complete sets of Curtis’ “The North American Indian” were eventually published. Curtis' goal was not just to photograph, but to document, as much of Native American traditional life as possible before that way of life disappeared. He wrote in the introduction to his first volume in 1907: "The information that is to be gathered ... respecting the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost." Curtis made over 10,000 wax cylinder recordings of Native American language and music. He took over 40,000 photographic images from over 80 tribes. He recorded tribal lore and history, and he described traditional foods, housing, garments, recreation, ceremonies, and funeral customs. He wrote biographical sketches of tribal leaders, and his material, in most cases, is the only written recorded history although there is still a rich oral tradition that documents history.
Though Curtis was largely forgotten at the time of his death, interest in his work revived in the 1970s. Major exhibitions of Curtis photographs were presented and his work was featured in several anthologies on Native American photography published in the early 1970s. Original printings of “The North American Indian” began to fetch high prices at auction. In 1972, a complete set sold for $20,000. Five years later, another set was auctioned for $60,500. On April 10, 2012, during an auction at Christies, New York, a set of “The North American Indian” was sold for a record $2.88 million.
[Source: Wikipedia]
"Edward Sheriff Curtis: Visions of a Vanishing Race" by Florence Curtis Graybill & Victor Boesen. NY: Thomas Y. Crowell, (1976). First edition
The photo on the cover is that of Black Eagle, Assiniboin Chief in 1908.
Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868 - 1952) was an American ethnologist and photographer of the American West and of Native American peoples. In 1906, J. P. Morgan provided Curtis with $75,000 to produce a series on Native Americans. This work was to be in 20 volumes with 1,500 photographs and the project was to last more than 20 years.
222 complete sets of Curtis’ “The North American Indian” were eventually published. Curtis' goal was not just to photograph, but to document, as much of Native American traditional life as possible before that way of life disappeared. He wrote in the introduction to his first volume in 1907: "The information that is to be gathered ... respecting the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost." Curtis made over 10,000 wax cylinder recordings of Native American language and music. He took over 40,000 photographic images from over 80 tribes. He recorded tribal lore and history, and he described traditional foods, housing, garments, recreation, ceremonies, and funeral customs. He wrote biographical sketches of tribal leaders, and his material, in most cases, is the only written recorded history although there is still a rich oral tradition that documents history.
Though Curtis was largely forgotten at the time of his death, interest in his work revived in the 1970s. Major exhibitions of Curtis photographs were presented and his work was featured in several anthologies on Native American photography published in the early 1970s. Original printings of “The North American Indian” began to fetch high prices at auction. In 1972, a complete set sold for $20,000. Five years later, another set was auctioned for $60,500. On April 10, 2012, during an auction at Christies, New York, a set of “The North American Indian” was sold for a record $2.88 million.
[Source: Wikipedia]