George Catlin papers and illustrations

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of Indians in both North and South America, by artist and author George Catlin, and other items all related to Catlin's unpublished manuscript The North Americans in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century.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.