Document Type
Book
Publication Date
1977
Abstract
George Catlin, the first and best observer of the Plains Indians, died in 1872, impoverished and ignored. As America enters its third century as a nation, it seems that American history might have caught up with him. In the 1970’s Catlin at last is receiving the attention which is his due as an adventurer, as an anthropologist, and as an artist, both literary and graphic. His drawings, paintings, and lithographs are being shown in museums and libraries across the country; his most important book, Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs and Conditions of the North American Indians (1841) has been republished in a very fine paperbound edition by Dover Press; and selections from North American Indians along with beautiful color reproductions have been edited for a new deluxe art volume. These publications will make easily accessible the accurate observation of the Plains Indian which has heretofore been the almost exclusive domain of those ethnologists who have had to dig up books long out of print. Several articles reappraising the life and works of Catlin have appeared in both popular and scholarly journals. Several more are planned, including a scholarly biography.
Recommended Citation
Millichap, Joseph R. George Catlin. Boise, ID: Boise State University, 1977. Digital. Western Writers Series, 27.