Step into the poignant legacy of early 20th-century ethnography with The Vanishing Race, an Amazing Record in Picture and Story of the Last Great Indian Council, participated in by Eminent Indian Chiefs from Nearly Every Indian Reservation, and contains the Indian's own Story of the Custer Fight. Beautifully bound in full leather, this is the sought after 1914 second and revised edition. Between 1908 and 1913 Rodman Wanamaker commissioned three expeditions to various tribes of native Americans still living in the U.S. in the early twentieth century. The expeditions were led by author and photographer Joseph K. Dixon and would include his 1909 visit to the Crow Reservation where he filmed nearly 100 native chiefs in what would be The Last Great Indian Council. this volume documents Dixon’s photographic expeditions across Native American communities, capturing a vanishing way of life with reverence and urgency featuring nearly 80 photogravures of Indian chiefs and Indian life.
🔹 Author: Joseph K. Dixon
🔹 Publisher: Doubleday, Page & Company
🔹 Year: 1914 (Second and Revised Edition)
🔹 Binding: [Beautifully rebound in full leather and gilt by Pfister Co.]
🔹 Pages: [231 with many still uncut]
🔹 Illustrations: Richly illustrated with sepia-toned photographs, many full-page, depicting tribal leaders, ceremonies, dwellings, and landscapes
🔹 Dimensions: [10.5" x 7.0"]
🔹 Condition: [Very Good or better Collectors copy – Elaborate gilt stamped rule and decoration to front and rear boards with five raised bands to the spine featuring intricate gilt stamped titles and decoration - top edge gilt with all others deckle - Marbled endpapers. Typical edgewear with corners rounded and rubbed and leather chipped at upper spine tip. A number of pages remain uncut with the title/copyright page partially opened leaving a small, closed tear along the bottom edge.]
Highlights:
• A landmark in early photographic documentation of Native American life
• Includes Dixon’s reflections and narratives from his travels & includes the Indians own story Custer fight.
• Features iconic images such as “The Vanishing Race” procession at Canyon de Chelly
• A powerful artifact of cultural preservation and early 20th-century American history
Collector Appeal:
Few copies survived as dealers and collectors would remove the images and sell them separately. Ideal for collectors of Native American history, ethnographic photography, and early Americana. This volume is not only a visual archive but a cultural testament—an effort to honor and preserve the dignity of Indigenous peoples during a time of profound change.