Edward S. Curtis And The North American Indian, Incorporated (Cambridge Studies In American Literature And Culture, Series Number 119)

Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated (Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture, Series Number 119)

From the 1890s onward, Edward S. Curtis took thousands of photographs of Native Americans all over the West. These were published (1907-1930) in twenty volumes of illustrated text and twenty portfolios of photographs; the project was supported by Theodore Roosevelt and funded in part by J. Pierpont Morgan, and spawned exhibitions, postcards, magazine articles, lecture series, a "musicale," and the very first narrative documentary film. Neither a eulogy to Curtis' achievement nor a debunking of it, this book is an honest study of the project as a collective whole.From Library JournalIn his newest book, Gidley (American literature, Univ. of Leeds; American Photographs in Europe, Paul & Co., 1995) provides a balanced picture of the many aspects of Edward S. Curtis's work. From the 1890s onward, Curtis took thousands of photographs of Native Americans. These photographs were published in the North American Indian (1907-30) in 20 volumes of illustrated text and 20 portfolios of photographs. The author has examined historical documentation, including the letters and field memoirs of Curtis, principal ethnologist W.E. Myers, and their associates, to produce the first significant scholarly study of that projectAan effort that spawned exhibitions, postcards, lectures, a "musicale," and the first narrative documentary film. Gidley gives readers a succinct explanation of the substance of Curtis's prolific photography and has tried to reexamine the term vanishing or vanished people in Curtis's original sense. Recommended for public and academic libraries.AVicki Leslie Toy Smith, Univ. of Nevada, RenoCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.Review"In this outstanding new volume, [Gidley] illuminates the multi-faceted nature of the photographer's enterprise, reprints original documents relating to the project, analyzes with insight some of the best known images and accompanying texts, and thereby places Curtis's opus within its complex historical context." Great Plains Quarterly"Gidley gives readers a succinct explanation of the subject of Curtis's prolific photography....Recommended for public and academic libraries." Library Journal"Gidley's descriptions of the process of the enterprise is fascinating; his analysis of the ideological, aesthetic, economic, and anthropological underpinnings is a model of development; and his assessment of the Curtis legacy is convincing. Strongly recommended for undergraduate libraries." Choice"The strength of Gidley's work lies not only in the clarity and appeal of his prose but also in his particular approach to a difficult subject. His complex and engaging study demonstrates the value of postmodern theory while avoiding its pitfalls." Melinda Marie Jette