Indian Love Letters by Marah Ellis Ryan, First Edition, 1907, #1653 SOLD

$ 1,000.00

Description: #1653 Indian Love Letters by Marah Ellis Ryan, First Edition, 1907. A Hopi Idyll by Marah Ellis Ryan. Fictional Account of Hopi Pueblo, Arizona, faith, tradition and environment.

Condition: The cover is frayed because it is tanned leather. The rest of the book and all the pages are in excellent condition, just like they have never been touched.

I remember acquiring this years ago from an ancient church in Aberdeen Scotland, on a weekend after my business meetings with a professor at the University of Aberdeen. They were having a rummage sale, so it immediately sucked me in.

I spied the book straight away and immediately knew I had to have it. It was titled, "Indian Love Letters". It was written by Marah Ellis Ryan (née Martin; February 27, 1860 or 1866 – July 11, 1934), a first edition, and published in 1907. The cover is frayed, but the pages of the book, look like they have never been used at all.

Marah Ellis Ryan, also known as Ellis Martin, was an author, actress, and activist from the United States. She was considered an authority on Native Americans after living with the Hopi.

Ryan was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania to Graham and Sidney Mechling Martin. She started her career under the pen name of Ellis Martin, writing a few poems and stories. She married Samuel Erwin Ryan (b. 1834), an Irish actor and comedian, in 1883. She became a popular author, writing numerous novels during the period 1889–1925.[1]

Around 1909, she went to live among the Hopi in Arizona. According to The New York Times, Ryan "claimed to be the only white woman ever admitted to the secret religious rites. She was noted as an authority on the tribal life of the Indians in the United States and Mexico."[1] She died in Los Angeles of encephalitis at the age of 68.[1](Wikipedia)

When I got back to Northern VA, I put it away and forgot all about it until I found it yesterday. Such is the life of a Gallery owner, who has collected items like this from around the globe.

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