The Complete Edition
ISBN: 1-891149-03-2

** The Western History Association has awarded this publication the 2002 Dwight L. Smith (ABC-CLIO) Award, for the most significant bibliography or research tool, in print or electronic form, on any aspect of the history of the American West.

James Otto Lewis (1799-1858) lived in Detroit in the 1820s and was retained by the U.S. Government to paint portraits of Native Americans visiting the city and to attend treaty councils in the Great Lakes Region between 1825 and 1827 to record the proceedings and participants.  Lewis published the results of his efforts in five editions before 1854.  The first edition, published 1835-1838, was the first compilation of portraits of North American Indians and represents one of the finest -- and rarest -- efforts of 19th century American lithography.

James Otto Lewis' The Aboriginal Portfolio: The Complete Edition is a two cd-rom publication containing all images (129 at 5 resolutions = 945) and texts (295 pp.) from the following editions as well as maps of the image sites, an extensive bibliography and an introductory essay by William S. Reese:

The Aboriginal Port-Folio or North American Aboriginal Port-Folio.
          Philadelphia, 1835-1838
          London, 1838
          New York, 1838-1839. With Prospectus.
          New York, 1844-1845
          New York, 1853

Catalogue of the Indian Gallery, Painted by J.O. Lewis.
          New York, 1850

Institutions which contributed editions for this publication:

Yale Collection of Western Americana
The Newberry Library
The William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan
Special Collections, Washington University
Library/Archives, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
The Free Library of Philadelphia
Archives & Rare Books Department, University of Cincinnati

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