The North American Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied

FAIN: RZ-50531-06

Joslyn Art Museum (Omaha, NE 68102-1292)
Marsha V. Gallagher (Project Director: November 2005 to April 2011)

Preparation of an annotated translation of the journals in which Prince Maximilian of Wied described his expedition to the United States in 1832-34. (36 months)

Funding is requested to edit and prepare for publication the North American Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied (German, 1782-1867). Three manuscript volumes at Joslyn contain the Prince's observations on his 1832-34 expedition from the eastern United States up the Missouri River to Montana. His 1839-41 book, Reise in das innere Nord-Amerika in den Jahren 1832 bis 1834, omitted much original journal material; the 1843 English edition was further abridged; each is out of print. Joslyn has a full, modern English translation of the journals and has begun their thorough annotation. This matchless record by a trained scientist of a young America, especially of the Missouri frontier, will be of value to both scholars and lay audiences.

Associated Products

The North American Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied, Volume 3: September 1833-August 1834 (Book)
Title: The North American Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied, Volume 3: September 1833-August 1834
Author: Maximilian of Wied
Editor: Jack F. Becker, Foreword
Editor: Stephen S. Witte
Editor: Marsha V. Gallagher, Editor and Introduction
Abstract: Few historical chronicles are as informative and eloquent as the journals written by Prince Maximilian of Wied as a record of his journey into the North American interior in 1833–34, following the route Lewis and Clark had taken almost thirty years earlier.Maximilian’s memorable descriptions of topography, Native peoples, natural history, and the burgeoning fur trade were further brought to life through the now-familiar watercolors and prints of Karl Bodmer, the young Swiss artist who accompanied him. The first two volumes of the North American Journals recount the prince’s journey from Europe to St. Louis, then up the Missouri some 2,500 river miles to the expedition’s western endpoint, Fort McKenzie, in what is today Montana. In this third, and final, volume, Maximilian vividly narrates his extended stay at Fort Clark (near today’s Bismarck, North Dakota) and his return journey eastward across America and on to his home in Germany. Despite subzero temperatures and a shortage of food at Fort Clark during the winter of 1833–34, Maximilian continued to study and interview the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians who lived nearby, recording descriptions of their social customs, religious rituals, languages, material culture, and art. This handsome, oversize volume not only reproduces the prince’s historic document but also features every one of his illustrations—nearly 100 in all, including several in color—from the original journal, along with other watercolors, now housed at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. Publication of these journals, fifty years in the making and complete with extensive annotation, opens the 1830s American West to modern readers in an indispensable scholarly resource and a work of lasting beauty.
Year: 2012
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/north-american-journals-of-prince-maximilian-of-wied/oclc/701562993?referer=di&ht=edition
Primary URL Description: Worldcat listing of complete 3-volume set.
Secondary URL: http://www.oupress.com/ECommerce/Book/Detail/1612/the%20north%20american%20journals%20of%20prince%20maximilian%20of%20wied%20%20volume%203
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's listing
Access Model: Book
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Type: Translation
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780806139241
Translator: Dieter Karch

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