Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians

George Catlin's Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians is a two-volume work published in 1841. It is illustrated with engravings and is based on Catlin's extensive travels and observations of Native American tribes, primarily in the Great Plains, during the 1830s.1

Catlin, an American artist and author, was driven by a desire to document Native American culture before it was irrevocably altered by the advancing American frontier. His "Indian Gallery," comprising over 500 paintings and sketches, was exhibited in the United States and Europe. The bulk of his collection, valued for its ethnographic and historical significance, was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution.1