George Gibbs letters to John Russell Bartlett, circa 1861-1864.

2 items

English

In English.

Purchased from Robert H. Rubin Books on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2011.

This material is open for research.

George Gibbs (1815-1873) was an ethnologist, linguist, and naturalist who studied Native American languages and cultures, circa 1853-1864.

2 autograph letters, signed, from George Gibbs to John Russell Bartlett. Gibbs discusses a vocabulary of Native American languages Bartlett sent him. He discusses the geographic distribution and relationships between languages such as Yaqui, Pima, and Tarahumara in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, including the influence of Nahuatl, an Aztec language. Gibbs also describes his plans to create an ethnological chart of Native American cultures and his study of Americanisms, including his theories about the etymologies of regional Americanisms.

February 23, 2018

George Gibbs Letters to John Russell Bartlett. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

George Gibbs Letters to John Russell Bartlett. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.