Sale 2455 - Printed & Manuscript Americana, September 28, 2017

7 c   (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. NewYork, 1853 [2,000/3,000] 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 Philadel- phia 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 NewYork 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 SiouxTribe” * “Tshu-Gue-Ga, a Celebrated HalfWinnebago 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 and 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.