McKenney & Hall, Folio, Two Volumes, 1836-1838, 13 Parts 

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Jun 13, 2014 - Jun 14, 2014

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• Lot Description
  Volume 1 and about 2/3 of Vol. 2 (parts 1 - 13) of McKenney, Thomas and Hall, James. 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. Published Philadelphia: by Biddle (1836), and Greenough (1838). Folio, with three-quarter leather and watered silk boards, four spine bands, marbled end papers. Vol. 1, frontis ("War Dance") State B, Red Jacket State D; with 48 plates (total); Vol. 2, frontis ("Buffalo Hunt") State A, 29 plates of 47 called for, plus "History of the Indian Tribes," pp. 1-44, issued with first volume [77 plates of 120 total].
  
  These volumes were the result of decades of work. They began with the appointment of Thomas Loraine McKenney (1785-1859) to a number of government posts relating to Native Americans, and eventually to the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1821, as Superintendent of Indian Affairs, McKenney hired Charles Bird King (1785-1862) to paint the portraits of a delegation of Indian leaders who traveled to Washington, DC.
  
  McKenney was concerned with the survival of native cultures from an early date. He was afraid, with good reason, that the cultures would pass into extinction without ever being described, or, ultimately, remembered. He also advocated humane treatment, especially for those tribes which were to move to reservations.
  
  McKenney served under Presidents Madison, Monroe, Adams (JQ), and Jackson. At Adams' request, he undertook an arduous 7,000 mile journey on horseback and by canoe to settle treaties with the western tribes, traveling through the wildest, and most dangerous, frontier at the time. McKenney got along with all of his superiors except Jackson. Reportedly the two men hated each other. To stay in his post (the only position from which he could really effect any protection of the natives), he believed Jackson's promises of peaceful and humane treatment during the move of many people to reservations west of the Mississippi. This was not to be, however, as the many "Trail of Tears" stories of the people attest. McKenney's reward for not opposing Jackson was his dismissal from his post in 1830.
  
  Now with nothing but time on his hands, McKenney undertook this massive project - to transform the paintings by King (and a few other artists) to lithographs and write what was known of their lives before that knowledge was lost. James Hall wrote the 44 page "History of the Indian Tribes," here bound into the second volume.
  
  McKenney suffered numerous set-backs, both artistic and financial, but by 1836 the first groups of hand-colored lithographs was ready to be sent to subscribers. The prints were issued in 20 parts, intended to be bound into three volumes, each with a title page and frontis. As indicated above, the printing history is complex, and most volumes were multi-state compilations (in Vol. 1 here, the frontis is State B, the first lithograph is State D). The designations of the states does not, however, conform to any known chronology (i.e., we do not know that State A is earlier than State B for any print; this is only the order in which the states were identified). Edward C. Biddle published the first volume; Frederick W. Greenough, whose firm succeeded Biddle's, published vol. 2 and a reissue of vol. 1; D. Rice and A.N. Clark published vol. 3 (and reissues of the first two volumes).
  
  The large size, and requisite expense of publication, put this out of reach of most people. (In fact, we suspect it was out of reach of many subscribers, as we have seen numerous incomplete volumes. The original subscribers either died or ran out of funds - or interest - before all of the parts were issued.) Thus, as soon as all parts were finally issued, McKenney began an octavo edition, with the same quality lithographs, just in a smaller size. These were printed in what is sometimes called "royal octavo," a bit larger than "ordinary" octavo. (Sometimes they are listed as quarto in booksellers' descriptions.)
  
  The large number of original portraits by King formed an Indian gallery at the War Department. They were eventually moved to the Smithsonian. Unfortunately, the Smithsonian suffered a disastrous fire in 1865, which destroyed most of the King paintings. Thus, these folio prints remain the primary record of people important both to the history of their tribes and to the United States from nearly two centuries ago. In many copies there is some damage to the paper, but the images and pigments used to bring them to life remain in very good condition, with little fading or smearing. [BAL 6934; Howes M129] 

  Condition

  For the most part, about average. Moderate toning of Vol. 2 frontis and first couple of plates. Others mostly with light toning and/or foxing, but a few are excellent and a few have extensive toning and foxing. It varies mostly by paper quality. Color excellent on all. Last 1" or so of spine missing from Vol. 2. Front board and ffep detached from Vol. 1. Cloth tape repairs to inner hinges.
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