Bodmer_Publication

Chef der Blutindianer [und]
Crih- Indianerinn. Handkolo
rier te Lithographie des
Verlags J. Honegger nach zwei
Aqua tinta-Stichen (Taf. 46
u. 33) aus dem Reisewerk des
Prinzen zu Wied, nach Aquarellen
von Karl Bodmer. Die
Kolorie rung weicht stark von
den Originalvorlagen ab.
Aus: Schinz 1840, Taf. 36.
Chief of the Blood Indians
to gether with Crih (Cree)
Indian woman. Hand-colored
lithograph, J. Honegger’s
printing office, after two
aquatints (Plates 46 and 33)
in Prince Maximilian’s journal,
based on watercolors by Karl
Bodmer. The coloring differs
strongly from the origi nals.
From Schinz 1840: Pl. 36.
Also worth noting is the fact that the hand-coloring on the lithograph of
Makuie-Poka corresponds exactly to the colors in Bodmer’s original watercolor,
making this print far more “authentic” than the fancy-colored lithographs in
Schinz’s second and third editions of his work.
Schinz’s Natural History of Man
It becomes evident that the Prince of Wied provided his friend Schinz only with
such watercolors by Bodmer which he did not need for his own upcoming publication.
They did not include Bodmer’s most spectacular works; these are to be found
in the aquatint atlas of Wied’s travel journal published from 1839 on. This explains
why Schinz replaced the three rather unimpressive portraits in the second, revised
edition of his work with images that were now available as aquatint prints and
which showed the Indians of the upper Missouri in “full array.” These include the
two portraits of the Mandan chief Mato-Tope (Plates 35 and 37) and of the Hidatsa
Pehriska-Ruhpa carrying a large pipe on his arm (Plate 34). Next to these there are
an “abridged” version of the “Scalptanz der Monnitarri” (Scalp Dance of the
Minnatarres) on Plate 38, as well as a rearranged print of the “Chef der Blutindianer”
(Chief of the Blood Indians) together with the “Crih-Indianerinn” (Cree
Indian woman) on Plate 36. The hand-colored version of this tableau with its fancy
colors does not correspond to Bodmer’s original watercolors, which suggests
that Schinz had at his disposal only black-and-white prints of Bodmer’s aquatints
and that the colors were added later, more or less randomly.
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