Lithograph, coloured by hand, printed by Day & Haghe, on card mount. Image size: 12 x 17 5/8 inches. Card size: 17 5/8 x 21 7/8 inches. A fine image from Catlin's 'North American Indian Portfolio', one of the most important accounts of native-American life. "The reader has here, a striking illustration of the. effects of the Indian's arrow, and also an emphatic representation of one of the largest specimens of the buffalo bull. at his last halt." Catlin summarized the Native American as "an honest, hospitable, faithful, brave, warlike, cruel, revengeful, relentless, -- yet honourable, contemplative and religious being". In a famous passage from the preface of his North American Indian Portfolio, Catlin describes how the sight of several tribal chiefs in Philadelphia led to his resolution to record their way of life: "the history and customs of such a people, preserved by pictorial illustrations, are themes worthy of the lifetime of one man, and nothing short of the loss of my life shall prevent me from visiting their country and becoming their historian". He saw no future for either their way of life or their very existence, and with these thoughts always at the back of his mind he worked, against time, setting himself a truly punishing schedule, to record what he saw. From 1832 to 1837 he spent the summer months sketching the tribes and then finished his pictures in oils during the winter. The record he left is unique, both in its breadth and also in the sympathetic understanding that his images constantly demonstrate. A selection of the greatest of images from this record were published in the North American Indian Portfolio in an effort to reach as wide an audience as possible. The present image is one of the results of this publishing venture and is both a work of art of the highest quality and a fitting memorial to a vanished way of life. Cf. William S. Reese, The Production of Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio, 1844-1876. Seller Inventory # 27493

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Bibliographic Details

Title: Wounded Buffalo Bull

Publisher: Chatto & Windus, [London

Publication Date: 1875

Store Description

Donald A. Heald Rare Books offers the finest examples of antiquarian books and prints in the areas of Botany, Ornithology, Natural History, Americana & Canadiana, Native Americans, Voyages & Travels, Maps & Atlases, Photography and more. Founded in England in 1972, we have formed and contributed to important private and institutional collections. Items of note which we have placed include a unique copy of Abbot?s "Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia" with plates on vellum, an extremely rare extra-illustrated large paper Spanish edition of Blaeu?s "Atlas Mayor," Curtis's "North American Indian," a copy of the Federalist Papers in boards, the first separate printing of the Bill of Rights, and a large paper issue of Redout�'s "Les Roses" with the plates in two states. We are renowned for our extensive print inventory which is unsurpassed in quality. Our Sporting collection recently incorporated the complete print stock of Ackermann & Son of London, established in 1783. We are members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, where Mr. Heald has served on the Board of Governors as Treasurer, Security Chairperson, and as Chairman of the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair. We are members of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, and the American Historical Print Collectors Society. Mr. Heald is a member of the Grolier Club, and the American Antiquarian Society.

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Donald A. Heald Rare Books (ABAA)
NY, U.S.A.

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To order, please telephone or e-mail. Payment may be made by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, America Express, check, or by wire transfer (please ask for details). Paypal funds should be sent to info@donaldheald.com. Any purchase may be returned within ten days of receipt. We ask that you notify us of the return as soon as possible. Donald Heald, Donald Heald Rare Books, 124 East 74th Street, New York, NY 10021. Telephone: 212-744-3505. Email: info@donaldheald.com.

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