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Very Rare First American Edition.
Extremely rare lithograph by James Ackerman, titled Buffalo Hunt, Chasing Back, from his 1845 New York edition of George Catlin’s celebrated North American Indian Portfolio. This vivid illustration captures the intense and perilous buffalo hunts on the Great Plains.
The scene shows a hunter, possibly modeled on Sir Charles Augustus Murray (who traveled in this region 1834-36) being chased by a buffalo bull, a frequent turn of events during the perilous hunt. The hunter’s posture, looking back at the charging animal while riding at full speed, vividly conveys the tension of the moment.
Catlin’s image includes the jagged and striking background of hills, likened to a castle in the distance, enhancing the picturesque and grand atmosphere of the composition.
James Ackerman's 1845 Catlin North American Indian Portfolio.
"This book is of the most excessive rarity and worth several times the value of the more common British printing." - Bennett, page 27
The 1845 "pirate" New York edition of Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio is one of the great American color plate books, especially relating to Native American Indians and the West. James Ackerman intended it to show that American lithographers were every bit the equal of their London counterparts, whom Catlin had chosen to publish the first edition of his magnum opus in 1844.
Ackerman's images are different, and to many eyes superior, to those in the 1844 London first edition.
Bennett's Practical Guide to American 19th Century Color Plate Books (page 22) calls the coloring "superb."
Reese, in Stamped with a National Character (25), says:
Originally published in London in 1844, this New York 1845 edition was pirated from the English original, evidently without Catlin's knowledge or consent. Not only did the publisher and lithographer, James Ackerman, undersell the author's own edition; he had the cheek to write a preface which criticized Catlin for not publishing the work in the United States, followed by a manifesto proclaiming the ability of American craftsmen to equal the quality of Old World productions. The portfolio was available tinted, colored on paper, or colored mounted on card.
Reese located only thirteen copies of all three New York issues.
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