Portraits of North American Indians
Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall, Octavo Edition, 1842
Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall, Octavo Edition, 1842
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 A-Na-Cam-E-Gish-Ca, |
 Apauly-Tustennugge |
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Ma-Has-Kah, |
Mar-Ko-Me-Te, |
Pee-Chee-Kir, |
Wa-Kaun-Ha-Ka, |
Tustennugee Emathla, |
Charles Bird King (1785-1862) (after)
Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall (editors)
History of the Indian Tribes of North America
D. Rice and A.N. Hart, Philadelphia: 1842
Hand-colored lithographs by J.T. Bowen
Octavo Edition, 10 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches each
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Prints from the most extensive and accurate series of Native American portraits. Hand-colored lithographs based on oil paintings by the government artist Charles Bird King were published in both folio and smaller octavo editions.
King was employed by the War Department to paint the portraits of Indian treaty delegates visiting Washington, D.C. during the 1820s. King painted over 100 portraits from life of Native American leaders, an extraordinary record. In 1835, McKenney and Hall embarked on a project to publish a history of the American Indian with color-plate illustrations by King and others. Hall had experience as a frontier judge, historian, writer and newspaper editor, as well as a substantial understanding of Indian culture, and served as the book's editor. The respected firm of J.T. Bowen made the lithographs.
In 1865, most of King's original paintings were destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian Institution, leaving McKenney and Hall's Indian Tribes as the only record of the likenesses of these prominent Indian leaders of the 19th century. Sequoyah, Red Jacket, Major Ridge, Cornplanter, Black Hawk, and Osceola were numbered along King's sitters.
References:
Bennett 79; Field 992; Howes M129; Lipperheide Mc4; Sabin 43410.