Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) was an American photographer, who documented images of more than eighty Native American tribes from throughout North America, taking pictures of all aspects of traditional Indian life. The images were produced in a multiple volume limited edition study North American Indian (1907-1930), and were photographed over a thirty year period from 1895. The project was supported by Theodore Roosevelt and partially funded by J. Pierpont Morgan. One of these sets ('number IV') was owned by the University of Exeter Library, having been presented by the Royal Library at Windsor. The set (known as the Curtis Collection) was sold at auction in 2001, as the University's research interests in this area had waned.
Curtis was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Seattle. He was a self-taught photographer and became a partner in a photographic studio in 1892. Through George Grinnell, he was appointed Official Photographer to the Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899, where he developed interests in North American Indian culture.
Jane Jordan Browne (d 2003) was a Chicago-based literary agent, whose clients included Edward Curtis. She originated from California, graduating from Smith College and UCLA, but began work as an editor in New York (Hawthorn Books, Thomas Y. Crowell, Macmillan Educational Services) before moving to Los Angeles to work for an architecture magazine, where she wrote Architectural Digest of Celebrity Homes . She founded Multimedia Product Development, Inc. (now Browne and Miller Literary Associates), in 1971, and was also a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Center for the Book. Other publications include Where towns had walls (1970).
From the guide to the Typescript relating to Edward Sheriff Curtis, 1967, (University of Exeter)
