Why could only wealthy people usually buy The North American Indian?

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Curtis, Edward S. — Edward S. Curtis Self-portrait, photogravure by Edward S. Curtis, 1899; in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The primary reason The North American Indian was accessible almost exclusively to the wealthy was the business model mandated by Edward S. Curtis’s benefactor, the banker J. Pierpont Morgan.

Morgan insisted that the lavish, leather-bound set of 20 volumes and 20 portfolios be sold strictly on a subscription basis with a very high price point. Consequently, the publication was largely limited to the homes of the very rich or to major libraries that received copies through direct subscription or donations from wealthy patrons, such as Henry Huntington or Gifford Pinchot. This exclusive arrangement resulted in fewer than 250 subscribers for the entire project.12