AIAF Library

Edward Sheriff Curtis (February 16, 1868 – October 19, 1952) published The North American Indian between 1907 and 1930 with the intent to record traditional Indian cultures. The work comprises twenty volumes of narrative text and photogravure images. Each volume is accompanied by a portfolio of large photogravure plates.In 1928, desperate for cash, Edward sold the rights to his project to J.P Morgan's son.In 1935, the Morgan estate sold the rights and remaining unpublished material to the Charles E. Lauriat Company in Boston for $1,000 plus a percentage of any future royalties. This included 19 complete bound sets of The North American Indian, thousands of individual paper prints, the copper printing plates, the unbound printed pages, and the original glass-plate negatives. Lauriat bound the remaining loose printed pages and sold them with the completed sets. The remaining material remained untouched in the Lauriat basement in Boston until they were rediscovered in 1972
The entire work is presented here, supported largely by funds from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. 
http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/index.html

Pic #1 Edward 1899 Pic # 2 The North American Indian 20 volumes
Pic # 3 Edward 1951