1913 First Edition First Families of the Southwest Fred Harvey Native American Book

This is a first edition copy of First Families of the Southwest, published by Fred Harvey, Kansas City, Missouri, in 1913 and edited by J. F. H. — John Frederick Huckel.

The book was produced during the celebrated Fred Harvey era of Southwestern tourism and presents the Indigenous peoples, cultures and arts of the American Southwest through text and a series of 32 colour plates. Subjects include Hopi, Pueblo and other Southwestern peoples, with sections devoted to ceremonies, traditional clothing, pottery, weaving and other aspects of life and material culture.

Among the illustrations are a Hopi flute player, a Cochiti chief, Hopi mother and daughter, a ceremonial kiva interior and a particularly attractive colour plate illustrating examples of Southwestern pottery.

The original binding consists of brown paper-covered boards with a brown cloth spine. The front has striking Arts & Crafts-style lettering in red surrounding a colour pictorial onlay of a Hopi flute player.

The title page bears an old handwritten presentation inscription dated April 1938. This inscription is considerably later than the book's publication and should not be taken as its publication date. The first edition was issued in 1913, with subsequent editions appearing during the following decades.

The interior is remarkably clean, except for very minor fingerprint smudges to the second plate description. The colour plates remain attractive and the binding is tight. The covers show considerably more age, including rubbing and wear, chips and losses along the edges and corners, and staining/marking to the back cover. Please refer to the photographs for details of condition.

Measurement: 9" × 11 5/8".

An interesting original 1913 first edition Fred Harvey publication, appealing both as an early illustrated record of the American Southwest and as a collectible piece of Fred Harvey and Southwestern tourism history.