Books and Manuscripts

1904, printed later. Gelatin silver border print. Signed by Curtis, bottom right, "Curtis/L.A."; signed in the negative, bottom left, "Copyright 1904/By E.S. Curtis x 935"; original Biltmore Hotel studio label mounted in folder. Image, 5 5/8 x 7 5/8 in. (143 x 194 mm), on 10 7/8 x 13 in. (276 x 330 mm) sheet. Small pinholes in three corners of sheet and folder; scattered light wear. Mounted along top edge, in original presentation folder, 11 1/4 x 13 1/4 (286 x 336 mm).

"This is the most popular and best known of all the Curtis Indian pictures and is internationally famous." (from the studio label). Curtis's most popular and well known image, The Vanishing Race pictorially summarizes his conceptual thesis behind his masterwork, The North American Indian (1907-30), namely, to create and record a "timeless" image of the America's indigenous peoples, at a moment when their culture and traditional ways of life had been completely altered by American expansion.

Curtis printed his images in a variety of photographic methods. The above "border" print is a gelatin silver print, printed on paper. They were typically made for sales and exhibitions, and are named for their distinct gray borders.