McKenney, Thomas L., and James Hall | History of the Indian Tribes of North America, a royal subscriber's copy

McKenney, Thomas L., and James Hall

History of the Indian Tribes of North America, with Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs. Embellished with One Hundred and Twenty Portraits from the Indian Gallery in the Department of War, at Washington. Philadelphia: Frederick W. Greenough, 1838 [Vol. 1], Daniel Rice and James G. Clark, 1838, 1844 [Vols. 2 and 3]

3 volumes, folio (524 x 360 mm). 120 hand-colored lithographed plates, including 117 portraits after Charles Bird King, 3 scenic frontispieces, Vol. 2 with an additional title page dated 1842 bound in, Vol. 3 with leaf of statements on the genuineness of the portrait of Pocahontas, one folding leaf of lithographed maps and a table, 17 pages of subscriber signatures in facsimile including that of Louis Philippe I; plates lightly toned with a few stray stains, some offsetting of varying severity as is typical, scattered foxing throughout mostly restricted to tissue guards and margins of text leaves, Vol. 3 especially foxed at text leaves and subscribers list. Contemporary 3/4 morocco over marbled boards, spine in six compartments with raised bands, the second and fourth gilt-lettered, the others gilt-stamped with the "LP" monogram of Louis Philippe I topped with crowns, Vols. 1 and 3 gilt-lettered at foot of spine with "Simier.R.DuRoi"; light wear to boards, joints and head and feet of spines slightly rubbed, overall well-preserved. Each housed in a custom cloth clamshell case with gilt-lettered leather spine labels.

First edition of "one of the most distinctive and important books in Americana" (Reese), from the library of Louis Philippe I.

The 120 striking lithographs in Indian Tribes are reproductions of portraits by Charles Bird King, either painted directly from life or copied after James O. Lewis. With portraits of Sequoyah, Red Jacket, Major Ridge, Cornplanter, and Osceola, Indian Tribes depicts many of the most prominent indigenous figures of the nineteenth century. Indeed, as many of King's original paintings were lost in a destructive 1865 fire at the Smithsonian, these lithographs are in many cases the sole record of these leaders' likenesses.

A collaboration between Thomas McKenney, the first director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and James Hall, an Illinois lawyer and journalist, the volumes present an attempt to accurately preserve the history of indigenous cultures that were rapidly disappearing. McKenney contributed the biographies accompanying the lithographed portraits, many based on personal interviews, while Hall wrote the general history of the North American Indian in Vol. 3.

Originally issued in 20 parts designed for binding in three volumes, there exists significant variation of imprints between first editions. Four publishers and three lithographic firms were enlisted to complete the first edition over the course of eight years, from 1836 to 1844. The present copy exhibits the following states, according to BAL. Titles: volume 1, C; volume 2, A; volume 3, A. Plates: War Dance, D; Red Jacket, F.

The spine of the present copy bears the monogram of Louis Philippe I, and his signature is produced in facsimile in the subscriber's pages. Louis Philippe reigned as King of the French through tumultuous civil unrest from 1830 until his abdication from the throne in 1848, at which point he fled to England. After his death in 1850, his family sold the present copy along with other items from his library in an 1852 sale.

A well-preserved royal subscriber's copy of this work including the "most colorful portraits of Indians ever executed" (Howes).

REFERENCES

BAL 6934; Bennett 79; Field 992; Howes M129; Lipperheide Mc4; Reese, Nineteenth Century American Color Plate Books 24; Sabin 43410a

PROVENANCE

King Louis Philippe I (1773-1850) (monogram with a crown atop "LP" gilt-stamped to spine) — sale of his library, Paris, 8 March 1852, n. 2756 (Catalogue De Livres Provenant Des Bibliothèques du Feu Roi Louis-Philippe, Paris: L. Potier, 1852) — J.C. MacCoy (gilt-embossed bookplate) — Ch. Chadenat, Librarie Americaine et Coloniale, Paris (booklabel)