New York: Doubleday Page & Company. MDCCCIII on the
title page. Copyright page states: First Impression October 29, 1903. Second
Impression November 2, 1903. Written and illustrated by Ernest Thompson
Seton. With over three hundred drawings.
Author of Wilf Animals I have known, Lives of the Hunted, Biography of a
Grizzly, Trail of the Sandhill Stag, etc. Naturalist to the Government of
Manitoba. Deckled edges. Black & white full-page illustrations as well as
smaller drawings in the margins.
From Axios Press: In 1902, Ernest Thompson Seton founded a
group called the Woodcraft Indians, whose young members frolicked in war
bonnets and camped out in tepees in order to release their “animal energy” and
teach them to “think Indian.” He went on to become one of the founding pioneers
of the Boy Scouts of America. Although written in the third person, Two Little
“Savages” records Seton’s adventures in the woods of Ontario in the summer of
1876, when he and a friend developed games that were later incorporated in Boy Scout
rituals still in use today. The book is generously illustrated with over 300 of
Seton’s own detailed drawings.
The boys learn how to: prepare their own food, build a fire
without matches, use an axe expertly, make a bed out of boughs, “smudge” mosquitoes,
get clear water from a muddy pond, build a dam, know the stars, find their way
when they get lost, tell the direction of the wind, blaze a trail, distinguish
animal tracks, protect themselves from wild animals, and use Indian signals.
They also make moccasins, bows and arrows, Indian drums and war bonnets. They
discover how to identify the trees and plants and learn all about the habits of
various birds and animals including how they get their food, who their enemies
are and how they protect themselves from them.
Cover and internal pages and illustrations show very little
wear. Book may not have been read as some of the pages haven’t been separated
yet. Book has a slight musty smell. Otherwise very good. 6” by 8 ¼”.