Descriptive Summary
Access
Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: George Catlin papers and illustrations
Inclusive Dates: 1868-1892
Collection Number: mssHM 35183
Creator:
Catlin, George, 1796-1872
Extent:
Approximately 252 illustrations plus nine boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Fax: (626) 449-3477
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The George Catlin collection consists of roughly 252 unbound illustrations of Indians in both North and South America, by
artist George Catlin, and other items all related to Catlin’s unpublished manuscript The North Americans in the Middle of
the Nineteenth Century.
Language of Material: The records are in English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with
the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. George Catlin Papers and Illustrations, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Purchased from Frank Glenn, November 9, 1954. Previously owned by Colonel Archibald Rogers (see Loyd Haberly’s Pursuit of
the Horizon, New York, 1948).
Biographical Note
George Catlin, artist and author, was known especially for his paintings of Indians. Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,
he practiced law until his talent for painting led him to join a group of artists in Philadelphia in 1823. Catlin concentrated
on portrait painting in Washington, D.C., until 1829, when he saw a delegation of visiting American Indians in Philadelphia.
He then resolved to devote his life to preserving the appearance and character of the vanishing Indians and for forty-two
years traveled extensively in the U.S. West and lived among the tribes. Catlin wrote many books and articles related to his
experiences.
Arrangement
Organized in the following manner: Illustrations (HM 35183 (1-286)) and Archival Material
Scope and Content
This collection consists of roughly 252 unbound illustrations of Indians in both North and South America, by artist and author
George Catlin, and other items all related to Catlin’s unpublished manuscript The North Americans in the Middle of the Nineteenth
Century.
Collection contains bound folio manuscript of The North Americans in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century (Volume A). The
contents of Volume A are: Map of North America with Distribution of tribes, Prospectus, Preface, Second Preface, Lists of
tribes, Descriptions of plates, and Glossary.
There is also a small, bound volume consisting of the report of J. Garland Pollard of the Smithsonian Museum, who identified
many of the illustrations for Rogers (Volume B). The contents of Volume B are: Letter from J. Garland Pollard to A. Howard
Clark, Curator of the National Museum (1892, Apr. 18), Lists of illustrations called for in the manuscript “The North Americans,”
letter from William Hallett Phillips to Archibald Rogers (1892, Dec. 27), and letter from George B. Grinnell to William Hallett
Phillips (1892, Oct 24).
The unbound illustrations consist of the following: 24 finished color cartoons, 26 unfinished color cartoons, 38 finished
pencil outlines, 107 unfinished pencil outlines (many are counterproofs), and 43 line cuts (from Catlin’s published works).
They were probably composed for the most part during the late 1860s in Brussels, particularly those means to accompany the
manuscript, and those unidentified ones which clearly portray the South American Indians which Catlin visited only during
his final explorations in the 1850s. Most of the drawings and cartoons are copies of cartoons prepared by Catlin to replace
his original collection confiscated in 1851, and therefore their original versions in many cases date from the 1830s. The
line cuts are taken from Catlin’s books and were inserted by Archibald Roger’s agent in places where no drawing existed corresponding
to a particular description in the manuscript text.
The illustrations numbered 1-206 in the collection correspond to the descriptions in Pollard’s report; in many cases a described
illustration is missing from the collection (the drawing numbers are not truly consecutive); in other cases as many as three
versions (enumerated a, b, c) of the same illustration exist, in different media. Illustrations numbered consist of paintings
and drawings not described in the text, and otherwise unidentified, expect that many are clearly South American subjects.
Illustrations numbered 265-285 are partially finished copies (with colored backgrounds but figures outlined) on cardboard
canvas paintings (originally 27 in number) forming a series entitled “Voyages of Discovery by LaSalle” which Catlin was commissioned
to do by Louis Philippe of France, and which are described in Catlin’s Catalogue…of Catlin’s Indian cartoons (New York, 1871,
67-69).
Most of the illustrations (except for the LaSalle) consist of group portraits, full-length, of Indians, arranged by tribe.
Those painted in oils are marked “color” in the container list, although in some cases the coloring is incomplete, consisting
of yellow figures against an undifferentiated greenish background. The drawn figures are generally counterproofs; in many
cases Catlin has drown over the counterproof outlines in pencil, refining them, and this drawing is noted in the container
list as well. Illustrations cut out Catlin’s books are marked “printed.”
Collection also contains facsimiles of correspondence from the New York Historical Society, as well as photocopies of Catlin
manuscripts and drawings from the Newberry Library, Yale University Library, and the New York Public Library. Collection also
contains the original mat labels and the original binding for Volume A.
Alternative Form of Materials Available
Indexing Terms
Personal Names
Catlin, George, 1796-1872
Subjects
Art, American
Artists -- United States -- Archives
Indians of North America -- Pictorial works
Indians of South America -- Pictorial works
Painters -- United States -- Archives
Genre
Counterproofs -- United States -- 19th century
Drawings -- United States -- 19th century
Engravings -- United States -- 19th century
Facsimiles
Illustrations -- United States -- 19th century
Manuscripts -- United States -- 19th century
Paintings -- United States -- 19th century
Sketches -- United States -- 19th century
Studies (visual works) -- United States -- 19th century