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CURTIS, Edward Sheriff (1868-1952)
Mosquito Hawk - Assiniboin [Pl. 102]
[Pl. 102]. [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 mild rippling. Plate mark: 17 3/8 x 11 1/2 inches. Sheet size: 22 1/4 x 17 7/8 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.
Born on the Missouri River near Williston, North Dakota, Mosquito Hawk was a member of several war parties against the Sioux and Piegans. The Assiniboin were distant relations of the Yanktonai Sioux, from which they divided in the seventeenth century, and inhabited the northern Plains of North America.
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; cf. Yenne The Encylopedia of North American Indian Tribes, p. 20.
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#12606 $950.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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