This is undoubtedly the finest plate book on Native American Indians ever published. The artist Karl Bodmer (1809-93) went on the expedition of Prince Maximilian to the Plains of North America. They travelled up the Missouri River from St. Louis passing the forts of the American Fur Company. The Sioux were one of the first they encountered recording their ceremonial dances. They continued by steamer to Fort Clark studying along the way the life of the Mandan, Mintari and Crow tribes. At Fort Union they encountered the Cree and Assiniboin. This was the main base of the American Fur Company. They then proceeded through the geological beauty of the next section of the Missouri to Fort Mackenzie in present day Montana, where they spent a month building relationships with the fearsome Blackfoot tribe. As winter was setting in this was their turning point and the return journey was made downstream. The finished prints accompanied the text of Maximilian and was published as ‘Reise in das Innere Nord-America’. The quality of the engraving and the realism of the individual portraits are praised to the highest degree. Abbey ‘Travel’ (1956) 615; Howes (1962) M443a; Sabin (1868-1936) 47015; Wagner-Camp (1982) 76.2.