(AMERICAN INDIANS) Lewis James O The Aboriginal Port Folio

Sale 2455 - Lot 7

Price Realized: $ 6,500

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

(AMERICAN INDIANS.) Lewis, James O. The Aboriginal Port-Folio. 6 hand-colored lithographs plus engraved title page in duplicate. 16 pages. 4to, formerly stitched and now loose; moderate toning and edge wear, vermin damage to upper margin of final 2 plates and 3 text leaves. New York, 1853

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James Otto Lewis accompanied the governor of Michigan for several Indian treaty negotiations from 1825 to 1827, and sketched portraits of several of the leaders he met. His Aboriginal Port-Folio hit the market in 1836 before competitors such as McKinney & Hall and Catlin. The scarce Philadelphia first edition with 80 plates by Lehman & Duval was issued with a title page and just 3 pages of introductory text. A scarce 1838 London edition was issued with 7 re-engraved plates by Ackermann, and a page of descriptive text for each plate. Then came an 1844 New York edition with 16 plates, followed by the present 1853 edition with plates engraved by Currier. Included here are: "Waa-Na-Taa or the Foremost in Battle, Chief of the Sioux Tribe" "Tshu-Gue-Ga, a Celebrated Half Winnebago and Half French" "Mac-Cut-I-Mish-E-Ca-Cu-Cac or Black Hawk, a Celebrated Sac Chief" "Ma-Ko-Me-Ta or Bear's Oil, a Monomonie Chief" "Shing-Gaa-Ba-W'Osin or the Figured Stone, a Chippewa Chief" and "Kitch-Ee-I-Aa-Ba, or the Big Buck, a Chippewa Chief," each with a page of accompanying text. Earlier editions are discussed in Bennett, page 68; Field 936; Howes L315; Reese, American Color Plate Books 23; and Sabin 40812. Only two other examples of this 1853 edition have been traced, and none at auction.