(Native American Interest) Among the Sioux; photographed and compiled by J. A. Anderson. N[ew] Y[ork]: The Albertype Co., (1896). FIRST EDITION.
Oblong 12mo - 5-1/8" x 7-1/8". [17] leaves, including [16] leaves of single-sided photographic plates and a printed prefatory forward by the photographer. Original publisher's red ribbon-bound, limp textured maroon cloth wrappers, with the title stamped in silver to the upper wrapper.
The structural and surface condition of the volume is VERY GOOD +. The fragile silk ribbon binding remains intact and secure, and the silver stamping on the upper wrapper is clean and untarnished. Physical anomalies are restricted to minor, routine signs of handling and superficial wear at the wrapper extremities. Internally, the photographic plates are crisp, free of foxing, and retain their original tonal depth.
The Rosebud Reservation Census and Frontier Photocompilation
This work represents the initial book-length photographic compilation by John Alvin Anderson (1869–1948), an essential visual chronicler of the Brulé Lakota. Having apprenticed under the pioneering frontier photographer W. R. Cross at Fort Niobrara, Anderson established deep cultural and personal ties with the local indigenous populations of Nebraska and South Dakota. In 1889, his technical proficiency led to an appointment by General George Crook as an official U.S. Army photographer for the Crook Treaty Commission, the negotiations of which directly resulted in the dissolution of the Great Sioux Reservation and the establishment of the Rosebud Indian Reservation.
Published seven years after the reservation's creation, Among the Sioux captures a critical transitional era in Plains history. In his forward, Anderson explicitly positions the work as an accurate ethnographic record of a "phase of life little known by the public at large," documenting the forced adaptation to reservation infrastructure. The sixteen plates include major socio-political and cultural documents, such as "A Typical Indian Agency," a horse-mounted "Indian Police Force," traditional ceremonial gatherings ("Omaha Dance" and "Squaw Dance"), portraits of "Noted Chiefs of the Sioux Nation," and the realities of federal administrative oversight depicted in "Ration Day" and "Butchering a Steer."
Technical Execution of the Albertype and Institutional Scarcity
The technical production of this volume is historically noteworthy for its use of the albertype (or collotype) process, executed by the prominent New York firm of Adolph and Herman Wittemann. As a premium dichromate-based photomechanical ink process, the collotype matrix relies on the reticulation of light-sensitized gelatin rather than screen half-tones. This chemical technique allowed for a continuous-tone reproduction of Anderson's original glass plate negatives that achieved a depth, contrast, and fine detail virtually indistinguishable from standard chemical silver prints.
Because these oblong brochures were issued as fragile, ribbon-bound travel souvenirs rather than case-bound books, their survival rate is remarkably low. A current global institutional search via WorldCat confirms the pronounced scarcity of this first edition, locating only six copies in permanent public collections worldwide.
A SCARCE, STRUCTURALLY COMPLETE NINETEENTH-CENTURY PHOTO-DOCUMENTARY SURVIVAL, CRITICAL FOR INSTITUTIONAL COLLECTIONS FOCUSING ON PLAINS INDIANS ETHNOGRAPHY, FRONTIER EXPANSION, AND EARLY COLLOTYPE PRINTING HISTORY.