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EDWARD S. CURTIS THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN Skidmore's Holdings of Curtis |  Zuni Governor, North American Indian v.17 (Cambridge, MA: The University Press), 1907-1930. |
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See Curtis Photogravure Images On-Line Images from the large format photogravures have been digitized and are available in the Re:discovery * slide database. Click on links below to view images from the entire set or from individual volumes. Entire set: Volumes 1-20 Volume 1 Apache, Jicarillas, Navaho Volume 2 Pima, Papago, Qahatika, Mohave, Yuma, Maricopa, Walapai, Havasupai, Apache-Mohave, Yavapai Volume 3 Teton Sioux, Yanktonai, Assiniboin Volume 4 Apsaroke (Crows), Hidatsa Volume 5 Mandan, Arikara, Atsina Volume 6 Piegan (Blackfeet & Bloods), Cheyenne, Arapaho Volume 7 Yakima, Klickitat, Interior Salish, Kutenai Volume 8 Nez Perces, Wallawalla, Umatilla, Cayuse, Chinookan Tribes Volume 9 Salishan Tribes of the Coast, Chimakum, Quilliute, Willapa Volume 10 Kwakiutl Volume 11 Nootka, Haida Volume 12 Hopi Volume 13 Hupa, Yurok, Karok, Wiyot, Tolawa, Tuttuni, Shasta, Achomawi, Klamath Volume 14 Kato, Wailaki, Yuki, Pomo, Wintin, Maidu, Miwok, Yokuts Volume 15 Southern California Shoshoneans, Dieguenos, Plateau Shoshoneans (Paiute), Washo Volume 16 Tiwa, Tano, Keres Volume 17 Tewa, Zuni Volume 18 Chipewyan, Cree, Sarsi Volume 19 Wichita, Southern Cheyenne, Oto, Comanche Volume 20 Nunivak, King Island, Little Diomede Island, Cape Prince of Wales, Kotzebue *Accessible to Skidmore Students, Faculty & Staff Only |
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Background of the Work By the early twentieth century, it was heartbreakingly clear that the rich and diverse worlds of North America's many Indian tribes were on the verge of almost total extinction. In 1895, Edward Curtis began chronicling the cultures of individual Indian tribes, although it was probably not until 1904 or 1905 that the idea of producing an extensive and systematic documentary project came to him. In the words of scholar Mick Gidley, this project "almost certainly constitutes the largest anthropological enterprise ever undertaken." |  An oasis in the Bad Lands, North American Indian v.3 (Cambridge, MA: The University Press), 1907-1930. |
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Curtis focused on the Native American tribes found west of the Mississippi
and Missouri rivers, numbering over 80 in all. These people, Curtis would
write, "still retained to a considerable degree their primitive customs and
traditions." Curtis devoted 30 years of his life to the project. At times
his efforts were embraced by the Indians whose lives he was recording; at
other times, things did not go so well. Curtis was on occasion fired upon
and he once needed to resort to bribing a tribal priest with five hundred
dollars. Finances were a constant and pressing worry, and it is estimated
that the total cost for the project may have run to one and a half million
dollars. Working with his own money as well as funds contributed by J.
Pierpont Morgan, and with the personal approval of President Theodore
Roosevelt behind him, Curtis was barely able to keep the gargantuan task
moving ahead. Publication Production and distribution of The North American Indian was handled by a company specially created for this task by Curtis. Putting together the physical copies of the work for sale was a great feat in itself. Specialized printing and photoengraving companies were needed to handle the technical challenges of high-quality reproduction and the coordination that was needed between these companies on the project was extraordinary. Money continued to be in short supply and without additional funds contributed by the Morgan family after John Pierpont's death, publishing would have halted. The work was ultimately sold in very limited numbers on a subscription basis. The finished project was issued in leather-bound books with gilded edges for the text with photos and in large leather folios for the photogravures. 500 copies were planned but how many were ultimately printed of that number is unknown. Only 272 copies were sold. |
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Photogravure |  Bear's Belly - Arikara, North American Indian v.5 (Cambridge, MA: The University Press), 1907-1930. |
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Bibliographical Description Publisher: [Seattle] : E.S. Curtis ; [Cambridge, Mass. : The University Press], 1907-1930. Description: 20 v. : ill., ports. ; 33 cm. + 20 portfolios (723 leaves of plates: ill., ports; 60 cm.) Notes: Vols. 9-20 have variant subtitle: ... describing the Indians of the United States, the Dominion of Canada, and Alaska. The portfolio contents leaves have caption title: The North American Indian : list of large plates supplementing v. 1-20 (two of the plates are numbered 400). Photogravures on tissue; this limited ed. was produced on three types of paper, the rarest being the tissue copies. Text v. 3-20 contain vocabularies. |
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This page is maintained by the Department of Special Collections
Lucy Scribner Library, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 E-mail contact: Special Collections .Last updated July 7, 2006. http://hudson2.skidmore.edu/irc/library/collections/pohndorff/Curtis.htm |
