An important work of Iroquois history in a beautiful copy

Cusick, David. Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations, comprising first - a tale of the foundation of the Great Island, (now North America,) the two infants born, and the Creation of the Universe. Second - a real account of the early settlers of North America, and their dissensions. Third - Origin of the Kingdom of the Five Nations, which was called A Long House: the wars, fierce animals, &c.

€ 5.800,00

Third edition of Cusick’s influential mytho historical account of the Haudenosaunee Confederation, notable as one of the first printed examples of transcribed Iroquois oral literature from a Native author. Presenting creation narratives, the settlement history of the continent, and the origin of the Long House, Cusick’s text records Iroquois oral traditions in English for a non Native readership.

The physician David Cusick was a member of the Tuscarora Nation. He fought in the war of 1812 on the side of the Americans and lived in the Tuscarora Village in New York State. His father Nicholas Cusick had also fought for the Americans in the Revolutionary War, at on point acting as bodyguard for Lafayette.

Long recognized by bibliographers, the "Sketches" circulated widely and informed later 19th century treatments of Iroquois lore; its visual programme proved especially influential. The 1848 Lockport issue restores the suite of four distinctive wood engravings - absent from the 1827 first edition and issued together on a single folding sheet in 1828 - here inserted within the text; the plates are almost certainly the work of Cusick himself.

A well preserved copy in the original printed wrappers, an appealing survival of a landmark Native authored work.