[Atlas] Voyage dans l'intérieur de l'Amérique du Nord, exécuté pendant les années 1832, 1833 et 1834
Creator(s):
Bodmer, Johann Carl (1809-1893)
zu Wied-Neuwied, Maximilian (1782-1867)
Date: 1840
Regions:
Topics:
Swiss artist Karl Bodmer was working as a landscape illustrator when he was hired by the Prussian naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied for an expedition to examine and describe the wildlife and Indian tribes of the American West. The men travelled up the Missouri River from Saint Louis to Montana over a 13-month period, and Bodmer documented the landscape and people of the region in great detail.
In the words of the website of the National Agricultural Library, "although Maximilian and Bodmer were not the first to explore the American West and record their observations, they were the first team combining a trained, dedicated scientist with an especially skilled illustrator, whose collaboration resulted in a work of unique historical, scientific, and aesthetic importance."
According to ANB, "for over a century Bodmer's aquatints have been regarded as one of the most significant contributions to the iconography of the western frontier." In his portraits of American Indians, Bodmer "achieved a level of accuracy and sensitivity that no other artist of the American frontier has ever surpassed. His work is particularly valuable for its detailed rendition of the Indians' ornamentation, attire, and implements. Indeed, Bodmer was far superior to his better-known contemporary George Catlin, whose work lacks the Swiss artist's fidelity and meticulous attention to detail."
In addition to depictions of native Americans, the "Travels" (the work was also produced in German and French) contains a number of memorable images of flora and fauna, terrain, frontiersmen, steamboats, and more. The most remarkable are the portraits, in rich colors and from life, of American Indians.
After the printing of the original editions, the location of the plates remained unknown until their rediscovery at Castle Wied in the 1950s; they eventually ended up being donated to the Omaha Joslyn Art Museum, which then collaborated with Alecto Historical Editions in London to create a spectacular facsimile reproduction.
Translated from the German.
4 volumes (text: 3 volumes, 8vo [9 1/2 x 6 1/4 ins]; atlas: 1 oblong folio [17 x 23 1/2 ins]).
French text: Half-titles, 1 lithographic plan, 31 plates of wood-engraved vignettes, 6 wood-engraved illustrations, large engraved folding map. Atlas: 81 engraved and aquatint plates (48 large aquatint tableau plates [19 handcolored as issued], 33 vignette plates on full folio sheets [7 handcolored as issued]), all after Bodmer.
The atlas comprises 81 plates, in part colored, numbered 1-48 and I-XXXIII, the latter set being called "vignettes."
References:
Abbey 615; Howes M443a. "dd"; Pilling, Proof-Sheets 2521; Rader 3652; Sabin 47014; Wagner-Camp 76:1; Goetzmann [et al], Karl Bodmer's America (1984); Ruud, Brandon, Editor, Karl Bodmer's North American Prints, Omaha, 2004, passim.
Publisher: Paris, A. Bertrand
Source(s):
ISBN-10: N/A
Date Added: 2019-07-22
Bodmer, Johann Carl, zu Wied-Neuwied, Maximilian, Voyage dans l'Interieur de l'Amerique du Nord Atlas. Paris, A. Bertrand. 1840.
Bodmer, Johann Carl, zu Wied-Neuwied, Maximilian, (1840) Voyage dans l'Interieur de l'Amerique du Nord Atlas. Paris, A. Bertrand.
Bodmer, Johann Carl, zu Wied-Neuwied, Maximilian, Voyage dans l'Interieur de l'Amerique du Nord Atlas. Paris, A. Bertrand. 1840.