CATLIN, George (1796-1872). Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians. London: Published by the Author, 1841.

2 volumes, 8vo. 3 maps (one folding), and over 300 plates on approximately 176 leaves by Tosswill and Myers after Catlin and variously numbered as usual. (Lacking errata slip, some light mostly marginal spotting.) Original green cloth with printed paper spine labels (a few small losses to labels, otherwise bright); half green morocco folding case.

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, with "Frederick" on p.104 in vol. I. Catlin's "Indian Gallery" was exhibited in the United States, England, and France, from 1837 to 1852, when he won the esteem and friendship of numerous scientists, explorers and cultural luminaries, including Mayne Reid, Joseph Henry, Henry Clay, Benjamin Silliman, Alexander von Humboldt, F. N. Bunsen, William M. Hunt, Daniel Webster, William H. Seward, John A. Dix, Michael Faraday, and John Murray. He gave numerous speaking engagements when his exhibition opened at the Egyptian Hall in London. The first of these was given at the Royal Institution of Great Britain on February 14, 1840 to an audience of over one thousand. When Letters and Notes was published in October 1841 it was met with further acclaim and was one of the first detailed illustrated descriptions of the American West. Howes C-241; Sabin 11536; Wagner-Camp 84:1.

Property from the Dorros Family Collection