The famous furniture and interior designer Gustav Stickley became an early fan of Curtis's Indian pictures. It's not known how the two became acquainted, but in 1906 a highly favorable article about Curtis appeared in the March issue of The Craftsman magazine. The article is unsigned, but since Stickley was the editor of the magazine it is very likely that he wrote the article.

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At some point after that, Curtis began advertising that subscribers to The North American Indian could purchase bookcases that were custom-made for the book set by Gustav Stickley. The advertisement includes a sketch of a larger cabinet plus a description of a “more compact case” that was available for libraries.

 

We are aware of only two of these cases still in existence: a full-size case was sold at auction in 2019, and the smaller library version is in the collection of the Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, Iowa.

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The copy of the printed advertisement for the Stickley bookcases is in the collection of the Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, Michigan. It is published here with their permission.

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The Craftsman article was scanned from a set of the magazines at the Seattle Public Library. It is published here with their acknowledgment.