A Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the United States Government Dealings with some of the Indian Tribes
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1881. Hard Cover. near Very Good binding. Item #9170
12mo. x, 457, [1], 6 (ads) pp. First edition. In publisher's cloth. Some light rubbing to boards as well as a slightly discolored area on the top corner of the rear board; early tideline to the top corner of the the leaves through the first half of the book or a little more, diminishing in size and intensity after the first dozen leaves or so; there is notable silverfishing in this area to the first two blanks as well as the title page; all these leaves with loss, but not touching the text of the title; early pencil note to the title page as well some neat pencil underlining and marginalia largely if not exclusively limited to the appendix. Despite this it remains a reasonable copy of the first edition of an important book.
Jackson was a novelist, poet, and essayist, nearly all of her literary output being eclipsed by this present expose. "Her greatest achievement was her pioneering work for Indian rights. After hearing the Ponca chief, Standing Bear, speak about the dispossessed Plains Indians, she vowed to write an expose of government maltreatment of Indians. Her month of research in the Astor Library, NY, resulted in A Century of Dishonor, 1881, a copy of which she presented to every US Congressman. This is an impassioned account of the various tribes since white contact, beginning with a discussion on the rights of sovereignty and occupancy, and ending with massacres of Indians. It shocked the public and within a year the powerful Indian Rights Assoc. was born, followed by the Dawes Act in 1887" (Blain, Grundy, and Clements p. 564-5). Blain, Grundy, and Clements, The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Oxford American National Biography. BAL 10444.
Price: $600.00