W. VOCABULARY OF THE SHOSHONE LANGUAGE.

W. VOCABULARY OF THE SHOSHONE LANGUAGE. Hill, George Salt Lake City. 1877. Original blue-green printed wrappers 36pp., near fine in a striking full black morocco clamshell case. Very minor wear and soiling. Near fine. First edition, issued by the author. George W. Hill, a Mormon Indian missionary, had taught Shoshones in their own language at Fort Limhi in 1855 and his vocabulary lists words spelled as phonetically as the English alphabet will allow, and with it any person may learn to speak the dialect so that an Indian can understand him. Hill's work is considered the third vocabulary for these languages, after Huntington (see below) and Gebow. Signed on front wrap by Geo[rge] Reynolds. Reynolds was a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), a long-time secretary to the First Presidency of the LDS Church, and a party to the 1878 United States Supreme Court case Reynolds v. United States, the first freedom of religion case to issue from that court. Great association copy of this rarity of Western Indian linguistics and Mormon printing. Ayer, Indian Linguistics (Shoshone) 3. Item ID#0583. Seller Inventory # 0583