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Photographs of Louis Choris' Illustrated Plates from Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde, approximately 1816-1817
Overview of the Collection
- Title
- Photographs of Louis Choris' Illustrated Plates from Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde
- Dates
- approximately 1816-1817 (inclusive)18161817
- Quantity
- 22 photographs (1 folder) ; sizes vary
- Collection Number
- PH1035
- Summary
- Photographic copies of illustrations by Louis Choris published in Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde, a work of seven parts published between 1821 and 1823
- Repository
-
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries' Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.
- Languages
- English, French
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Louis Choris (1795-1828) was a German-Russian painter and explorer. He was appointed the official painter on a three-year scientific expedition led by Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue in 1815. Although he did not live a long life, dying near Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1828. He is remembered for his vibrant and lively ethnographic illustrations of native peoples from the Americas and Pacific Islands.
Historical BackgroundReturn to Top
In 1815, Russian naval officer Otto von Kotzebue embarked on a mission to explore and chart Oceania on behalf of the Russian Empire. Following his work in the region, he and his crew, including one Louis Choris, an illustrator, proceeded up the North American coast, charting the Alaskan coastline and documenting its inhabitants as they went. The expedition was unable to sail back to Russia through the Arctic Circle but did manage to discover and name Kotzebue Sound in northwestern Alaska. Louis Choris went on to publish his illustrations of Alaskan peoples, in addition to Hawaiians, Polynesians, American Indians of Chile and the American Southwest, and related flora and fauna, in the volume Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde ("A Picturesque Trip Around the World"), along with descriptions of those regions, in 1822. The book is primarily composed of a number of highly detailed lithographs based on Choris’s original watercolor paintings along with text written by J.B. Eyries.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
This collection is composed of photographs taken of lithograph plates from Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde , specifically those illustrating Alaskan peoples, as well as related landscapes and fauna from the region. The illustrations themselves were likely made in 1816 or 1817, on the voyage commanded by Otto von Kotzebue, and were later published in Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde in 1822. These photographic copies were made in the late twentieth century. Some plates are not included in this collection as it currently stands, primarily those of Alaskan birds and geological formations.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Alternative Forms Available
View the digital version of the collection
Restrictions on Use
Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections at University of Washington Libraries for details.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
This collection is arranged according to the order the images were presented in the Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde , from which they were taken. The images span two separate sections of the volume, one concerning Kamchatka, Kotzebue Sound, and the land of the Chukchi people, and the other concerning the Aleutian Islands
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Photographic prints of illustrated plates, Between 1816 and 1817Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Folder | item | ||
| 1 | 1 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of
Inupiats of Kotzbue Sound Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 2 in the Kamchatka section.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 2 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of Inupiat utensils and
arms from the Bering Strait Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 3 in the Kamchatka section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 3 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of Inupiat ivory carvings
from Kotzebue Sound Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 4 in the Kamchatka section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 4 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of Inupiat carvings and
sculptures for Kotzebue Sound Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 5 in the Kamchatka section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 5-6 |
Copy photographs of lithographs of the skull of an
Inupiat woman from Kotzebue Sound Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plates 6 and 7 in the Kamchatka section.Scanned from copy negatives.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 7 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of a Chukchi family and
Chukchi homes Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 10 in the Kamchatka section.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 8 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of three
Aleuts Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 3 in the Aleutian Islands section.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 9 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of an Aleut man and
woman Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Although marked in the book as Plate 5, this is the fourth plate
in the Aleutian Islands section. The following plate is also marked as Plate 5,
suggesting a printing error in the original.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 10 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of Aleut hat Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 5 in the Aleutian Islands section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 11 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of Aleut
skulls Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 6 in the Aleutian Islands section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 12 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of Oululuk (Unalaska), the
principal settlement on the island of Unalaska Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 7 in the Aleutian Islands section.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 13 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of an Aleut kayak and
frame Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 8 in the Aleutian Islands section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 14 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of an Aleut man and woman
dressed in distinctive Aleut clothes Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 9 in the Aleutian Islands section.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 15 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of Aleut baskets and
weaving Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 10 in the Aleutian Islands section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 16 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of the port of
Unalaska Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 11 in the Aleutian Islands section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 17 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of sea lions at St. George
Island Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 14 in the Aleutian Islands section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 18 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of sea lions on St. Paul
Island Louis Choris (illustrator)
Plate 15 in the Aleutian Islands section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 19 |
Copy photograph of lithograph showing three Yupik men
with facial tattoos, tonsured hair and beaded ornaments from St. Lawrence
Island Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 16 in the Aleutian Islands section.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 20 |
Copy photograph of lithograph showing two Yupik men, one
playing a drum and the other with tonsured hair, inside a dwelling on Saint
Lawrence Island Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 17 in the Aleutian Islands section.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 21 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of Yupik boat and frame
from St. Lawrence Island Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 18 in the Aleutian Islands section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
| 1 | 22 |
Copy photograph of lithograph of Yupik arms from the
Bering Strait Louis Choris (Illustrator)
Plate 19 in the Aleutian Islands section.Scanned from copy negative.
|
Between 1816 and 1817 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)
Personal Names
- Choris, Louis, 1795-1828
Titles within the Collection
- Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde
