Schuessele, Christian after Capt. S. Eastman. "Wenona's Leap. Lake Pepin, Miss. River."

Christian Schuessele after Capt. S. Eastman.  "Wenona's Leap. Lake Pepin, Miss. River." From The Iris.

Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1852.  5 x 8.  Chromolithograph by P.S. Duval.  With small stain in title area.  Very good condition. 

A series of rare images of American Indians based on drawings by Capt. Seth Eastman.  Eastman was a soldier who spent many years in the American west, particularly working as an artist to document Native Americas for the U.S. government and for private purposes.  His images appeared in a number of scarce publications, including The Iris, a gift book, or as the title page called it, “an illuminated souvenir,” issued in 1852.  Eastman, and his wife Mary Henderson Eastman, were very sympathetic to the Indians and they took great pains to learn their language and customs, making their images some of the most accurate and interesting of the nineteenth century.  The prints from The Iris are based on first hand observations and they are superbly chromolithographed by leading Philadelphia printmaker P.S. Duval.

Other images after Eastman:

"Falls of St. Anthony."

"Indian Courtship."

[Indians offering food to the Dead.]

"The Laughing Waters, Three Miles below the Falls of St. Anthony."

"Sounding Wind.  The Chippewa Brave."