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CURTIS, Edward Sheriff (1868-1952)
A Gray Day in the Bad Lands [Pl. 86]
[Pl. 86]. [Boston: D. Sacilotto for Charles Lauriat's: 1967]. Photogravure by Curtis, finely printed from the original plate, on wove paper watermarked "Tweedweave", by the master printmaker D. Sacilotto. A rare edition, not to be confused with later restrikes. A fine print, the beauty and quality of which rivals that of the original plates.(Small discrete collection stamp outside of plate mark on verso .) Very good condition apart from some light soiling and mild rippling. Plate mark: 13 7/8 x 16 3/4 inches. Sheet size: 17 7/8 x 22 1/4 inches.
A breath-taking image from "The North American Indian", the grandest illustrated work ever produced in the United States, the most important illustrated work on American Indians, and the single greatest book in Western Americana.
Curtis described this image as depicting a "cold, cheerless day, when the party of Sioux, wrapped closely in their blankets, rode on in stolid silence." (List of Large Plates Supplementing Volume Three) Located southeast of the Black Hills, between the Cheyenne and White Rivers, the Bad Lands of South Dakota is a barren, rugged stretch of peaks, prairies, and ravines that are difficult to navigate. The Great Sioux Reservation, created by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, and the Pine Ridge and Rosebud agencies, formed in 1878, were situated in the heart of this area. Comprised of several bands including the Brulé, Oglala, Hunkpapa, and Minneconjou Sioux, the Teton or Lakota Sioux inhabited the North American Plains and Prairies west of the Missouri River and were the principal tribe residing near Fort Laramie, Wyoming during the nineteenth century. They were semi-nomadic people, who primarily subsisted on the buffalo they hunted on the high plains.
The original edition of Curtis' The North American Indian had 214 subscribers and Curtis himself handled the distribution. After Curtis declared bankruptcy, the booksellers Charles Lauriat's of Boston purchased the outstanding stock, and the edition from which this print comes was commissioned in order to complete a number of incomplete portfolios. According to information supplied by the printers, the edition was strictly limited with only 17 sets being produced.
Edward Curtis was fascinated with the story of the American Indian from an early age, honing both his knowledge of them and his skill as a photographer on numerous scientific expeditions in the 1890s. With the enthusiastic backing of President Theodore Roosevelt (who wrote the foreword), Curtis evolved his plan for a comprehensive work that would illustrate his romantic vision of American Indian life before the disastrous impact of European contact. He obtained the patronage of J. Pierpont Morgan, whose support (and later, that of his son) enabled the project to go forward. What had originally been projected to take five or six years stretched to twenty-three, consumed $1,200,000 (a third in subsidy from the Morgans), and finally reached a conclusion in 1930, leaving Curtis a broken and bankrupt man. Nonetheless, he succeeded in accomplishing his grand design, and the set remains his monument.
Cf. Naef & Goldschmidt The Truthful Lens 40; cf. Howes C-965.
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#12597 $550.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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