2 volumes, 8vo (248 x 146 mm). 3 maps (one folding), and over 300 plates on approximately 176 leaves by Tosswill and Myers after Catlin and variously numbered as usual. (Lacking errata slip, light marginal toning with occasional spotting, small dampstain in upper gutter in vol.1, partial split to map fold.) Late 19th century olive morocco gilt, covers with numerous borders of foliage, gilt-lettered within central frame, spines in 6 compartments with 5 raised bands, gilt-lettering in 2, others gilt with more foliage tools, all edges gilt, stamp-signed by Zaehnsdorf (discrete repairs near spine ends and fore-corners). Provenance: John Murray III (1808-1892), 19th century English publisher, (presentation inscription in the hand of Murray, dated 1843); given to Augustus Samuel Twyford (inscription from Murray below previous, dated 1872).

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, with "Frederick" on p.104 in vol. I. A SUPERB ASSOCIATION COPY PRESENTED TO PUBLISHER JOHN MURRAY. The inscription, appearing on the title pages of both volumes, is written in Murray’s hand, as it matches the second inscription that the publisher gifted to his friend.

John Murray III was a prominent British publisher and third of the name at the family-run John Murray publishing house. He continued the legacy of his father and grandfather by publishing influential works, including Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1859. Catlin approached Murray shortly before the publication of "Letters and Notes," however, producing 300 images proved too large a project for Murray, leading Catlin to seek support from a group of important subscribers, beginning with Queen Victoria, to help fund the venture.

Catlin's "Indian Gallery" was exhibited in the United States, England, and France, from 1837 to 1852, when he won the esteem and friendship of numerous scientists, explorers and cultural luminaries, including Mayne Reid, Joseph Henry, Henry Clay, Benjamin Silliman, Alexander von Humboldt, F. N. Bunsen, William M. Hunt, Daniel Webster, William H. Seward, John A. Dix, Michael Faraday, and John Murray. He gave numerous speaking engagements when his exhibition opened at the Egyptian Hall in London. The first of these was given at the Royal Institution of Great Britain on February 14, 1840 to an audience of over one thousand. When Letters and Notes was published in October 1841 it was met with further acclaim and was one of the first detailed illustrated descriptions of the American West. Howes C-241; Sabin 11536; Streeter 1805; Wagner-Camp 84:1; Wheat Mapping the Transmississippi West II:453-55.

[With:] Autograph note signed admitting Mr. Hughes & Party to "Catlin's Indian Exhibition", n.d. [1837]. On small slip (64 x 146 mm), in an unknown contemporary hand, affixed to cardstock, old folds.