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George Catlin papers and illustrations
mssHM 35183  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • 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of Indians in both North and South America, by artist George Catlin, and other items all related to Catlin’s unpublished manuscript The North Americans in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century.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

    Visit the Huntington Digital Library   to view George Catlin's illustrations from this collection.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

    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