Schoolcraft, Henry R.

Information, Respecting the History, Conditions, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States: Collected and Prepared under the Direction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs .... Philiadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, 1853



6 volumes, 4to (12 3/4 x 9 1/4 in.; 324 x 235 mm). 329 engraved plates and maps (some handcolored or color-printed) after S. Eastman and others, engraved frontispiece portrait of Schoolcraft, 15 woodcut illustrations in text, additional engraved title-pages with vignettes, half-titles; occasional spotting, some browning.  Publisher's full red morocco, spines elaborately gilt-decorated and lettered in 6 compartments, covers elaborately gilt-decorated, upper covers with supralibros of Lewis Cass, lower covers with vignette of an Indian brave scalping a settler or soldier, gilt dentelles, edges gilt; spines renewed, backstrips skillfully laid down, some wear to extremities, 1 1/2 in. chip at head of spine of volume 1.



 

Sen. Lewis Cass (inscriptions and supralibros)

Field 1379; Howes S183; Sabin 77855

Presentation copy given to Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, with gilt supralibros on upper cover of each volume and inscription on front free endpaper of each volume: "Hon. Lewis Cass, with respects of Charles E. Mix, Actg. Commr. Ind. Affrs."

Although somewhat erratically arranged, Schoolcraft's encyclopedic work "contains a vast mass of really valuable material.  It has indeed performed a very important service for Indian history in collecting and preserving an immense amount of historical data" (Field).  The plates include, in addition to scenic views and cultural tableaux, accurate depictions of a great variety of domestic utensils and implements, weapons, medicinal objects, clothing and costumes, dwellings, writing systems, art objects, and antiquities.