Twenty Years Among Our Savage Indians. A Record Or Personal Experiences, Observations, And Adventures Among The Indians Of The Wild West

J. LEE HUMFREVILLE

Publication: Hartford Publishing Company, 1897, Hartford

First edition. Red cloth, vii-xlvii, 49-674pp. 243 Illustrations listed, including 29 full-page Plates, 10 of which are in color. Humfreville, a captain in the U.S. Calvary, drew much from personal observation. Provides information on Indigenous groups in North America and their fighting tactics, smoking, food, customs, art, language, birth and burial practices. The book contains individual chapters devoted to the specific life ways of Sioux, Mandan, Comanche, and Apache among others, as well as various wildlife, including buffalo. Much of the book relates interesting details of Indian life on the plains, Indian warfare, and their many clashes with the U.S. Army. Also, much on exploration, the fur trade, Jim Baker, James Beckwourth, the Pony Express, and more. Eberstadt's stated that, "Of this, the original edition, we have had but 2 copies in our experience. Virtually the entire edition was consumed in a fire at the binders." It has been assumed that only a few copies escaped the fire. Our copy has a fleur-de-lis design blind-stamped around the perimeter of the front and rear panels, with the title, author, and "illustrated' gilt-stamped within an ornate imprint on the spine...unlike the images of this book that appear in A Photographic Reference For The Western Americana Collector. We do not believe our copy to have been rebound, as there are no apparent indications, and the ornate gilt imprint on the spine would be very unusual for a rebound book. We believe our copy to be a variant binding, as issued by the publisher; perhaps early in the binding process. A clean, tight, near-fine copy protected in a custom slipcase.

Inventory Number: 52837