New York, 10 July 2012

On 4 October 2012, the Swann auction house will put up for auction a complete set by American photographer Edward S. Curtis. The lot has been estimated between $1,25m and $1,75m by the Fine Photographs & Photobooks department.

Consigned by famous bookseller John King, this set seems to be the sole complete version containing numerous photogravures signed by Curtis. This unique set includes 722 large-format photogravures on Japan tissue, with 111 signed plates – every image in Folios I, IV and V.

The accompanying 20 text volumes contain 1,505 heliogravures, four maps, and two diagrams produced by Lauriat from Curtis’ original copper plates.

Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) was an American artist and photographer known for his images of Native-American tribes living west of the Mississippi. Including twenty folios and twenty text volumes, The North American Indian is one of the most amazing and ambitious photographically-illustrated books to have ever been produced.

The Swann Galleries was set up in 1941 as an auction house specialised in rare books. Today, Swann has developed and comprises several departments: Photographs, Posters and Prints & Drawings, Maps & Atlases, and Autographs.