MCKENNEY, THOMAS L. 1785-1859; and JAMES HALL. 1793-1868. History of the Indian Tribes of North ...

MCKENNEY, THOMAS L. 1785-1859; and JAMES HALL. 1793-1868. History of the Indian Tribes of North America. Philadelphia: Rice, Rutter & Co., 1870. 3 volumes. 8vo (280 x 172 mm). 121 hand-colored lithographed plates. Contemporary armorial blue morocco gilt, stamped with crown and cypher of Olga, Grand Duchess of Russia, on upper covers, spine gilt in 6 compartments, gilt dentelles, floral patterned endpapers, all edges gilt. slightly rubbed, even toning, offsetting from plates, gift inscription on front flyleaf, monogram inkstamp on title. Provenance: Olga Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess of Russia, Queen Consort of Charles I of Württemberg (armorial binding, stamps to title pages, penciled notes in French and English on front flyleaf); Christie, Manson & Woods, New York, November 26, 1979, lot 385. A finely bound set of the one of the last octavo editions to include hand-colored plates. This set comes from the library of Queen Consort Olga of Württemberg (1822-1892), Grand Duchess of Russia, the daughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. Howes describes the original paintings by Charles Bird King, of which the plates are copies, as 'the most colorful portraits of Indians ever executed.' Those paintings were all lost in the 1865 Smithsonian fire. From the publisher's preface: 'The universal approval of the folio edition of the work, has induced the publishers of the present edition to alter the size to royal octavo, and thus place it within reach of the thousands who, with taste and learning equal to those of the patrons of the large edition, have no less capacity to appreciate its worth and beauties....They also believe that the smaller edition will be preferred to the large, as it is better suited for a library.' Howes M-129; Sabin 43411. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing