WRIGHT, ALFRED. 1788-1853. Autograph Manuscript Choctaw-English dictionary, 41 pp recto and verso, 4to, Goshen, Mississippi (Choctaw Nation), July 7, 1828, folding creases, occasional light spotting, a few tears along folds. [WITH] Autograph Letter Signed ("Alfred Wright"), 1 p (on bifoliate leaf), Goshen, July 7, 1828, to James Barbour, United States Secretary of War, enclosing the manuscript.
Provenance: Frank T. Siebert (his sale, Sotheby's, May 21, 1999, lot 1018).

The manuscript is comprised of seven vocabulary sections; verbal forms and sentences; a translation of the Lord's Prayer; a key to vowel sounds; and notes, one of which reads "The name of this tribe should be spelled, as pronounced by them, Chahta, instead of Choctaw. The name cannot be defined." Reverend Alfred Wright established a Presbyterian mission with the Choctaws in Goshen in 1820; he was the namesake of Choctaw Chief Allen Wright (Kilihote).