Complete Copy of Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian at Hindman

Hindman will offer a complete copy of Edward S. Curtis’s seminal The North American Indian, arguably the most complete ethnographic record of the native peoples of North America ever assembled in its Fine Books from the Dorros Family Collection sale, the first in a pair of back-to-back Books and Manuscript auctions on November 9 and 10. The following day, Hindman will hold its biannual Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, including Americana auction.

Curtis’s The North American Indian was one of the most ambitious and expensive publication projects of its kind, taking more than two decades to complete and resulting in one of the most important published works of the 20th century. By 1907 when Curtis began his project, the great tribes that once spread across the North American continent had dwindled to small enclaves after centuries of colonization and westward expansion. Funded in part by JP Morgan, Curtis set out to document as much of Native American culture and history as he could. Writing in the introduction, he explained that “the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost.”

All told, The North American Indian comprises 40 volumes, 20 text volumes featuring 1,511 illustrations, 1,505 photogravures, four maps and two diagrams, along with 20 supplemental folio volumes featuring some 723 full sheet photogravures in sepia, many of which have become iconic images. Morgan originally commissioned 500 copies of the set, although little more than half were ever completed. The set offered in Hindman’s November auction is No. 88 (lot 23; estimate: $700,000 - $1,000,000), which was signed by Curtis and originally sold to the Free Public Library of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

“It is a privilege to handle such a monumental work,” said Gretchen Hause, Hindman’s Vice President and Director of Books & Manuscripts. “The North American Indian is among the most important and ambitious publishing undertakings in the history of book production, and still stands as a monument of American photographic works. Complete copies in any condition are very rare on the market.”