Published in Cambridge, Massachusetts
20 volumes, 1907-1930
Gift of Charles A. Otis, 1927
Dimensions: 12.75 x 10 x 2 inches
Arguably the best-known photographer of Native Americans, Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) spent more than 30 years studying and documenting North American Indian tribes. Curtis took over 40,000 photographic images and some 10,000 wax cylinder recordings, leaving behind a unique and invaluable chronicle of Native American tribal culture. The North American Indian represents his collected work, divided into 20 volumes of text accompanied by portfolios of photogravures—photographic prints produced in printer’s ink and created with an etched copper plate made from the photo negative.