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. By Thomas L. McKenney, Late of the Indian Department, Washington, and James Hall, Esq. of Cincinnati. In Three Volumes

Philadelphia: D. Rice & A. N. Hart, 1855. Third Edition. Very good. J. T. Bowen (ca. 1801 - 1856). Three volumes, 8vo, 10 ½ x 7 inches (266 x 178 mm). Vol. 1: pp. iv, 333, 40 portraits; Vol. 2: pp. v, 319, 50 portraits; Vol. 3: pp. 339, 31 portraits. Red morocco binding, gilt fillets and elaborate floral and dart decorations on the covers, 5 raised bands, gilt titling and decorations in compartments, all edges gilt, hinges professionally repaired, shelf worn, some spotting and foxing, tissue guards on most plates. FEATURING 120 HAND-COLORED LITHOGRAPHS BY J.T. BOWEN

[Howes M129; Sabin: 43411]. As early as 1824, the practice was begun of taking portraits of the principal Indians who came to Washington, and depositing them in the War Department. They were chiefly painted by Mr. King, an artist of high repute, who has been remarkably successful in transferring to his canvas the strong lineaments of the Indian countenance. Col. McKinney, who was for many years superintendent of Indian affairs at Washington, and was thus brought into constant association with the principal men of the nations and tribes which sent representatives to the seat of government. McKenney conceived the plan of making this rare and curious collection more valuable to the world by publishing a series of engraved portraits exactly copied and colored from these paintings. A biographical sketch of the individual accompanies each portrait whom it is intended to represent, interspersed with anecdotes and narrations. The work also contains an historical account of the various Indian tribes within the borders of the United States.

In this edition the plates are on a reduced scale from the folio edition by Biddle issued between 1836 and 1844.

The lithographic plates are based on paintings by Charles Bird King, whom the War Department commissioned to do portraits of tribal delegates visiting Washington. These exquisite portraits became the core of the Department's Indian Gallery. An 1865 fire at the Smithsonian destroyed most of King's paintings. Thus the superb color versions in this work constitute the only existing likenesses of some of the most significant 19th-Century Native American leaders.