From the New Golden LandFour Centuries of Travel

and Exploration in the Americas

Selections from the Jay I. Kislak Foundation Collection

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THE GROLIER CLUB

ITEM 1 — “Oceanica classis”

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). De Insulis nuper in Mari Indico repertis inCarolus Verardus: Historia Baetica. Basel: I.B. [Johann Bergman de Olpe], 1494.

“I saw the things which have been brought to the King fromthe new golden land, a sun all of gold a whole fathom broad,and a moon all of silver of the same size, also two rooms of fullof the armor of the people there, and all manner of wondrousweapons of theirs, harness and darts, wonderful shields,strange clothing, bedspreads, and all kinds of wonderful objectsof various uses, much more beautiful to behold than prodigies.These things were all so precious that they have been valued atone hundred thousand florins. All the days of my life I haveseen nothing that has gladdened my heart so much as thesethings, for I saw amongst them wonderful works of art, and Imarveled at the subtle ingenia of men in foreign lands. Indeed,I cannot express all that I thought there.”

— From the diary of Albrecht Dürer, August 27, 1520.

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The objects described by Dürer were presented to Cortésby Montezuma shortly after his arrival in Mexico in1519 and Cortés sent them back to Spain. The greatartist saw them in Brussels, where Charles V stopped onhis way to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he was to be en-throned as Holy Roman Emperor.

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From the New Golden LandFour Centuries of Travel

and Exploration in the Americas

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Selections from the Jay I. Kislak Foundation Collection

THE GROLIER CLUB

N E W Y O R K

1998

Published by the Jay I. Kislak Foundation in conjunction with the exhibition

“From the New Golden Land: Four Centuries of Travel and Exploration in the Americas”

on view at The Grolier Club

Wednesday, September 23, 1998

to Friday, November 6, 1998

The Jay I. Kislak Foundation7900 Miami Lakes Drive West

Miami Lakes Florida 33016-5897

Copyright © 1998 by the Jay I. Kislak Foundation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I t is a privilege and a pleasure to share some highlights of the Jay I.Kislak Foundation library with the members of the Grolier Club.

Selecting the items and compiling this catalog for “From the New GoldenLand” has afforded me an opportunity to survey a wide range of books,manuscripts, maps and documents that deal with travel and exploration inCentral America. I have attempted to include items that are historicallyimportant and culturally significant. The selection was not an easy task. Icame to appreciate the wonderful variety and depth that is represented inthis singular collection, and yet this exhibit presents but one facet of theFoundation’s holdings which also include Pre-Columbian artifacts,Floridiana and Colonial Americana. What began as one person’s passion forthe “stuff” of history has, itself, become a resource of historic importance.

In endeavoring to bring this exhibit to realization we have been mostfortunate to have enjoyed the encouragement and guidance of the staff andmembers of the Grolier Club. I thank Director, Eric Holzenberg, andPublications Chairperson, Carol Rothkopf, for their diligent reading andhelpful suggestions regarding catalog entries and label copy. Thanks also toregistrar Nancy Houghton who has patiently answered every call for assist-ance and extended a warm welcome whenever I visited the Club. Finally,thanks to Mary Schlosser and the members of the Small Exhibits Com-mittee who helped install the exhibit. Without their assistance this exhibi-tion would not have been possible. We are most grateful to each and all andhope that the members of the Grolier Club enjoy the fruit of our efforts.

Arthur DunkelmanCurator of CollectionsThe Jay I. Kislak Foundation

ITEM 1 — “De Insulis nuper in mari Indico repertis”

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). De Insulis nuper in Mari Indico repertis inCarolus Verardus: Historia Baetica. Basel: I.B. [Johann Bergman de Olpe], 1494.

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INTRODUCTION

The awesome knowledge of totally unknown, even unimagined, con-tinents and people came to Europe and the rest of the outside world

beginning in the late 1400’s with a shock and suddenness that we cannotconceive of today. Perhaps even more intriguing than the news of theColumbus landfall in 1492 was the ceremonious encounter that took placebetween Hernando Cortés and the Aztec Emperor Montezuma II on thecauseway just outside the metropolis of Tenochtitlán on November 9,

1519. In that single thunderous instant, two very different kinds of civiliza-tion came face to face in a manner that can never, never again be experi-enced— at least on this planet.

The present exhibit of key works from the Jay I. Kislak Foundation col-lection shows, as perhaps no other assemblage of like material is capable ofdoing, key manuscripts and books that enabled people to learn of the landsknown collectively as America over the centuries following Columbus.The exhibit includes the superlative 1494 imprint of the Columbus letter(the collection also has the earlier Epistola … de Insulis Indie supra Gangemnuper inuentis. Rome, 1493), as well as the unique set of meticulous draw-ings made by Ricardo Almendáriz at the mysterious, overgrown, and virtu-ally unknown Maya ruins of Palenque in the spring of 1787.

Behind each such book and manuscript in the exhibit lies another timeand an intricate mix of characters and circumstances that helped to shapeour present world. Together, these pieces form a unique set that allows theviewer, in a sense, to experience the very formation of the knowledge ofAmerica’s peoples, ancient civilizations, and landscapes. Among thesetreasures appear a seventeenth century Aztec book skillfully painted by anIndian artist; Alexander von Humboldt’s great and brilliantly illustrated1810 atlas of scenes and archaeological objects in South America, Mexico,and Central America; and Lionel Wafer’s charming and informativeaccount of the Isthmus of America-Panama, as it was at the very end of theseventeenth century. This exhibition ranges far and wide in both time andgeographical space. Yet, through the care by which the items in it wereassembled, it retains a fundamental unity of theme— the revelation of thevery first details of a huge and complicated land.

George E. StuartBoundary End FarmBarnardsville, NCSeptember 2, 1998

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ITEM 3Map of Tenochtitlán and Gulf of Mexico

Hernando Cortés (1485-1547). Praeclara Ferdinandi Cortesii de nova maris oceaniHyspania narratio ... Nüremberg: F. Peypus, 1524.

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EARLY ENCOUNTERS

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). De Insulis nuper in MariIndico repertis in Carolus Verardus: Historia Baetica. Basel: I.B.[Johann Bergman de Olpe], 1494.

Christopher Columbus drafted a short official letter describing his 1492

discoveries of places and people on his return voyage to Spain in early1493. This famous letter was quickly published and printed in Spanish atBarcelona (only a single copy is known to survive). A year later an illus-trated Latin edition appeared in Basel. The front (and curiously “mostimportant” in the eyes of the publisher) part of this book contains a prosepiece by Verardus on Ferdinand’s 1492 capture of Granada from the Moors.The frontispiece to the volume appropriately is a portrait of Ferdinand ofAragon. This edition contains four other woodcuts, which purport to illus-trate the Columbus voyage and the New World (page 6). In fact, the illus-trations are mostly imaginary, and were probably adapted from drawingsillustrating the Mediterranean.

Martin Waldseemüller (b. 147-?-1518). Cosmographiae Introductio.St. Die: Walter Lud, 29 August 1507.

This book is composed of two works, Cosmographiae Introductio and aLatin translation of Amerigo Vespucci’s Quattuor navigationes. In this bookWaldseemüller proposes, for the first time, to name the newly discoveredcontinents “America,” after their discoverer, Amerigo Vespucci. The nameof Columbus is never mentioned!

Waldseemüller was one of the early “cosmographers” (intellectuals whoattempted to explain the workings of the cosmos), and his writings werewidely read in late 14th and early 15th century Europe. The work was writ-ten to accompany a small terrestrial globe and large world map printedfrom woodcut plates that were the first maps to bear the name “America.”Only a single copy of the large map and two copies of the gores for the smallglobe are known to survive.

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Hernando Cortés (1485-1547). Praeclara Ferdinandi Cortesii denova maris oceani Hyspania narratio ... Nüremberg: F. Peypus,1524.

Hernando Cortés landed in coastal Veracruz, Mexico in 1519 and by1521 had caused the death of Moctezuma and conquered the Aztec Empireat its central highland capital, Tenochtitlán. Upon the rubble of this amaz-ing island metropolis in Lake Texcoco, Mexico City was built, and theViceroyalty of New Spain was established.

Cortés sent five long reports to Emperor Charles V, detailing his progressin the conquest of Mexico. This edition contains his second and third let-ters as well as Peter Martyr’s account of the voyage from Cuba, believed tobe a paraphrase of a lost first letter. The second Relaciõn or report of Cortéswas signed in Tlaxcala on the 30th of October 1520. The book includes amap (page 8) of the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico on which the name“Florida” appears for the first time on a map. It is remarkably accurate,except that it shows the Yucatan Peninsula as an island. Adjacent to themap is a plan of Tenochtitlán, attributed to Albrecht Dürer, that is the ear-liest plan known of an American city. The plan shows the city before itsdestruction: the principal temples of the Aztecs occupied the main square,causeways connected the city with the mainland, and an aqueduct sup-plied fresh water. These images of the city were among the first to circulatein Europe, and they were accepted at the time as evidence of advancedsocieties in the New World.

Hernando Cortés (1485-1547). Power of Attorney, “Tenustitan”(Mexico City), 4 July 1526.

Fearing the power that the conqueror had amassed, the SpanishHapsburg king, Charles V, sent a residencia [judge] to investigate Cortés. Inthis letter, Cortés somewhat arrogantly proclaims “I cannot attend thehearing,” and he appoints three deputies to act as his agents. Herein hegives them full powers of attorney. The man Charles chose was a youngand inexperienced judge, Licentiate Ponce de León (not directly related tothe famous explorer of Florida). Licentiate Ponce de León died under verymysterious circumstances shortly after arriving in Mexico and within afortnight of the signing of this document.

Cortés had three ways of signing documents: Hernando Cortés, ElMarqués, and El Marqués del Valle Oaxaca. He employed the last two after1529, when he gained a new title. The rarest signature to survive is“Hernando Cortés,” as on the present document.

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Hernando Cortés (1485-1547). Manuscript, Dowry for Montezuma’sDaughter. [Original written “Temextitan” (Mexico City), 27 June1526; copied Valladolid, ca. 1750.]

In this document Cortés recounts the conquest of Mexico and explainsthe importance of Montezuma’s aid to the conquerors as justification forgranting a large dowry to Doña Isabel Montezuma, the late emperor’seldest daughter. She has married Alonso Grado, a hidalgo [nobleman] ofconsiderable standing in the society of New Spain. Cortés served both asguardian for Montezuma’s daughters and as Captain General of NewSpain, and consequently was able to be a generous trustee. He grants DoñaIsabel several encomiendas [grants of land and Indian labor] and estancias[ranches], all of which he carefully identified. According to a note at itsend, this copy of the Cortés document was made “from a very old copy thatDon Rafael Floranes has in his library in Valladolid.”

Martín Fernandez de Enciso (d. 1525). Suma de Geographis QTrata de Todas las Partidas y Prouincias del Munda: En Especialde las Indias. Seville: Andres de Burgos, 1546.

This was the first work in Spanish to treat the New World at length, andone of the most important pieces of early Americana. The author hadextensive experience piloting in American waters and took part in thesame venture in Panama during which Balboa discovered the Pacific. Hisstated purpose in writing the work was to aid navigators and mariners, aswell as for the instruction of Charles V. The work is invaluable for thestudy of early geographical history because it gives the first comprehensivedescription of American coasts and islands, as well as sailing directions.

Juan Díaz. Manuscript, Itinerario del Armata del Rey Católico inIndia verso la Isola de Iucatan del anno M.D.XVIII. al la quale fuPresidents il Capitano Generale Johan de Grisalva: Il quale e Fectoper lo Cappellano Maggiore de dicta Armata, et Mandato a SuaAlteza. [Italy, second quarter of the 16th century].

This manuscript is an early scribal copy of the voyage of Juan Grijalvato Yucatan. On the order of Velásquez, governor of Cuba, Grijalva sailedalong the coasts of Yucatán and mainland Mexico as far as the Panucoriver. The account describes the Maya, their customs and way of life, their

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towns and architecture, food and livestock, as well as religion, includinghuman sacrifice. Díaz also records the reception accorded the Europeanswhich was usually friendly (but on at least one occasion hostile when liveswere lost on both sides).

Pietro Martire d’Anghiera (1457-1526). Opus Epistolarum.Florence: Michael de Eguia, 1530.

Pietro Martire d’Anghiera (or Peter Martyr of Angleria, as he is knownin English) was the first historian of America. Opus Epistolarum is a collec-tion of his correspondence with the most knowledgeable persons of histime. He was a confidant of Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Hernando Cortés,Ferdinand Magellan, Sebastian Cabot and Amerigo Vespucci, among oth-ers. Through his friendship with these explorers and his position as a mem-ber of the Council for the Indies in Spain, he had access to official docu-ments and information. The letters are in Latin and extend from the year1488 until the time of his death in 1526. His works were held in highesteem in his time and today are indispensable as a source for the historyof early America. They are invaluable to the historian, for the overallaccuracy of the details, as well as the intelligent criticism in which theyabound. This was John Lenox’s copy, in his binding.

Richard Eden (1521?-1576). The Decades of the New Worlde orWest India ... London: William Powell, 1555.

Eden’s Decades of the New Worlde was one of the most influential Englishbooks of the 16th century. It begins with the first translation of three ofPeter Martyr’s Decades. There follows other extremely important earlyworks relating to America: the Papal Bull of Alexander VI setting the“Line of Demarcation” between Spain and Portugal, Francisco deGómara’s discussion of the strife between Spain and Portugal over trade inthe Indies, Oviedo’s History of the West Indies and the narrative ofPigafetta’s journey with Magellan.

It was Eden’s intention not simply to introduce English readers to theseexplorers’ accounts, but actually to inspire them with a thirst for discoveryand colonization, and he succeeded. With the publication of the Decadesthe great age of English exploration, navigation, and colonial settlementbegan.

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Francisco López de Gómara (1511-1564). The Pleasant Historie ofthe Conquest of the Weast India, now called new Spayne. London:Henry Bynneman, 1578.

Gómara was among the most distinguished of the historical writers ofSpain. In this book it was his purpose to give a brief view of the wholerange of the Spanish conquests and, as a captain in the army and the biog-rapher of Cortés, he had access to public and private archives and personalnarratives that are now lost. Although he has been criticized, beginningwith Bernal Díaz, for inaccuracies and for coloring the incidents to thecredit of Cortés, the value and importance of his work are unassailable.

His dedication to Charles V, from the original Spanish edition, beginswith these fateful words, “The greatest event which has happened since thecreation of the world (leaving aside the incarnation and death of Him whocreated it) is the discovery of the Indies.” He goes on to admonish potentialtranslators to be accurate and to pay special attention to proper names.Would that this warning had been heeded by Thomas Nicholas in this, thefirst English translation. Much of the matter contained in the original ofGómara’s La Conquista de Mexico, (the second part of his 1552 Historia gener-al de las Indias) is omitted, altered or confused.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1495-1583). Historia Verdadera de laConquista de la Nueva-España. Madrid: en la Imprenta de Reyno,1632.

The classic account of the Spanish conquest of Mexico by the author,uno de sus conquistadores [one of its conquerors]. It was written in responseto López de Gómara’s laudatory biography of Cortés, in which El Marquéssometimes seems to have conquered the Aztec empire single handedly.The Historia Verdadera tells the story of Díaz and his more humble com-rades who risked their lives to conquer a new land. It lay unpublished forsome fifty years until Alonso Ramón, the Chronicler General of theMercederian Order, edited and published it.

Bartholomé de Las Casas (1474-1566). Holograph manuscript, ca.1528.

This five-page autograph manuscript, signed by the Spanish Dominicanmissionary and historian Fray Bartholomé de Las Casas, can be traced tothe collections of Abbé Agustín Fisher, secretary to the Emperor Maxi-

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milian, and from there to the collection Phillippica of Sir ThomasPhillipps.

Las Casas sailed with Christopher Columbus on his fourth voyage, arriv-ing in Santo Domingo in 1502. In 1510 he became the first Spanish friarordained in the New World and in 1514, horrified by the Conquistadors’treatment of the Indians, he returned to Spain to take holy orders anddetermined to devote his life to mission work in the New World.

This lengthy unpublished manuscript was probably written inValladolid, Spain, and sent to Charles V for presentation to the Council ofthe Indies as they debated the fate of the Indians of the New World. In it,Las Casas states, “In order that the Indians may be preserved in life andliberty there are no other means save that Your Majesty should incorpo-rate them as your vassals in your royal crown.” He claims that theSpaniards are killing the Indians to obtain their riches, “against the law ofGod and the great destruction of Your Majesty’s royal patrimony .… YourMajesty is compelled by divine precept and law to declare them free.”

Perhaps inconsistently, Las Casas goes on to suggest that Negro slaves beimported as laborers instead. This soon happened, and in 1542 the Indianswere formally made equal vassals and their enslavement prohibited. In1544 Las Casas was named Bishop of Chiapas, Mexico, where he is stillmuch revered.

Bartholomé de Las Casas (1474-1566). Manuscript, Apologética his-toria sumaria.

At his death in 1566, Las Casas left behind two unpublished manu-scripts, Historia de las Indias, and his briefer Historia Apologética, a study ofAmerican Indian culture and civilization.

The Historia Apologética is now recognized as a pioneering work in eth-nology and cultural anthropology. Las Casas drew on his experience andobservation of native Indian cultures in the New World, and his study wasdesigned to defend the Indians against the charge that they were destinedfor slavery, under the Aristotelian theory that some classes of mankindwere preordained to servitude. His attitudes and methods were surprisinglymodern. In the Historia Apologética he did not measure the Indians andtheir culture against Spanish or European standards. Instead, he tried toexplain and describe the culture on its own terms.

Sir Thomas Phillipps acquired this manuscript at the dispersal of LordKingsborough’s collection.

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I T E M 1 5 — Title Page

Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca (1490-1557). La relacion y commentarios de gouer-nador Aluar nunez cabeca de vaca, de lo acaescido en las jornadas que hizo a las

indias. Valladolid: Fernandez de Cordoua, 1555.

Gentleman of Elvas. Virginia Richly Valued by the Description ofthe Maine Land of Florida, Her Next Neighbor: Out of the FoureYeeres Continuall Travell and Discoverie … of Don Fernando deSoto. London: Felix Kingston for Matthew Lownes, 1609.

The book was translated by Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) from theanonymous Realçam verdadeira dos trabalos que ho gouernador dõ Fernãdode Souto e certos fidalgos portugueses passarom … (Evora, 1557). Althoughthe identity of the Gentleman of Elvas has remained a mystery, the workhas traditionally been attributed to De Soto himself. It is the primarysource for information concerning the De Soto expedition (1539-1543)which began as an expedition searching for gold and resulted in a year-longjourney crossing the southeast region of the United States. Beginning inFlorida in 1539, the expedition marched north through Georgia and westto Mobile Bay. The party reached the Mississippi River in 1541 and wentperhaps as far as the present Oklahoma-Arkansas border. Returning East,De Soto died and was buried on the banks of the Mississippi River. Thesurvivors of the ill-fated expedition rafted down the Mississippi to the Gulfof Mexico and made their way to Mexico.

In addition to an account of the De Soto expedition, the book containsa promotional tract for the Virginia Company. It emphasizes the materialaspects of colonization and describes Virginia as a probable site for bothgold and a passage to the South Sea. In a gilt morocco binding by Rivière.

Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca (1490-1557). La relacion y commen-tarios de gouernador Aluar nunez cabeca de vaca, de lo acaescido enlas jornadas que hizo a las indias. Valladolid: Fernandez deCordoua, 1555.

This edition is in two parts (page 15). The Relacion records the firstjourney by Europeans across North America. Cabeza de Vaca was alreadya veteran when he joined the expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez as secondin command. They sailed from Spain on June 17, 1527. One-fourth oftheir original number deserted in Santo Domingo, and two of their shipswrecked, so that only 400 of the original 600 soldiers and colonists wentashore, probably at present day Tampa Bay, Florida in April 1528. Twomonths later, their number had dwindled by almost half. Hardships, pri-vations, and Indian attacks took further toll on the group. Finally foursurvivors reached Mexico City on foot on June 24, 1536, eight years afterthey had set out so enthusiastically for Florida.

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The second part of the book, the Commentarios, is the first printed nar-rative of inland exploration of the South American continent, telling thestory of Cabeza’s travels up the Río Paraguay in 1540 and his later career asGovernor of Río de la Plata.

Anonymous. [Techialoyan Manuscript: text in Nahuatl on 16 leaves,and illustrated with 23 full-page drawings, written on amate (fig treebark) paper, from Santa Maria Itztacapan. Mexico, 17th century].

To an extent, the civilizations of Asia, Africa and Europe had alwayshad some links through ancient trade routes and contacts, long before for-mal exploration or voyages around Africa or to the Far East. But the cul-tures of Central and South America were entirely new to the conquista-dors and the news of the discovery of people living in the New Worldcaused a sensation throughout the Old.

The Aztec civilization of Mexico was one of astonishing sophistication.The Aztecs, established in the Valley of Mexico in the 14th century, werehighly literate with a pictorial script and some phonetic writing. Cortésundertook the conquest of Aztec Mexico in 1519 and in 1521 conqueredthe empire of Montezuma. Subsequently, the conquistadors, the Catholicclergy and the Inquisition all contributed to the annihilation of Aztec civ-ilization. The Aztec archives were burned, therefore surviving examples ofIndian Codices are of exceptional interest. Although this manuscriptclaims to date from the early 1500’s, it is part of a group of manuscriptsactually created in the following century using old methods. It is part ofthe so-called Techialoyan group of village records recreated to substantiateland claims with the Spanish regional authorities. The present manuscriptsays that it was composed by an Aztec Indian notary named Don Andrés ata gathering of town officials in Santa Maria Iztacapan (probably in themodern state of Hidalgo). The purpose of this meeting, the documentasserts, was to record the land holdings granted by “our great ruler” [tohueyt-latocatzin] Don Antonio de Mendoza (Viceroy of New Spain 1535-40).

René Goulaine de Laudonnière (d. 1582). L’histoire Notable de laFlorida. Paris: 1586

René Laudonnière made two voyages to Florida in attempts to plantFrench Huguenot colonies. The first was with Jean Ribault in 1562, whenPort Royal (Beaufort Sound, North Carolina) was established. The colonywas abandoned two years later.

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In 1564, Ribault and Laudonnière established another French colony atthe mouth of the “River of May” (St. John’s River, near what is now calledJacksonville, Florida), and there built Fort Caroline. Within a few months,a Spanish fleet under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés attacked and massacredthe garrison. All the French Huguenots were hanged with the inscriptionaffixed to them “Not as Frenchmen but as heretics.”

Laudonnière, however, escaped and returned to France. In his L’histoireNotable de la Florida, Laudonnière describes his voyages as well as that ofCaptain Dominique de Gourgues who entered Florida in 1567 seeking toavenge the murder of his countrymen. A short time after de Gourgues land-ed in Florida his expedition captured two Spanish forts, and, by way ofreprisal, hanged all the Catholic prisoners, attaching to them the inscrip-tion, “Not as Spaniards, but as assassins.”

Theodore De Bry (1528-1598). Brevis Narratio eorum quae inFlorida Americae Provincia Gallis acciderunt, secunda illamNavigatione, duce Renato de Laudoniere classis Praefecto ...Frankfurt, 1591.

Theodore De Bry published the Brevis Narratio as Part II of his “GreatVoyages” series in 1591. This volume, in Latin, containing forty-twodetailed plates, comprises the earliest published illustrations of FloridaIndians, presumably the Timucua tribe of the northeast coast. The engrav-ings were adapted from original watercolors made in 1564 by the Frenchartist, Jacques Le Moyne, who had accompanied Laudonnière in that yearto paint scenes of America and to establish the French Huguenot settle-ment at Fort Caroline. The De Bry engravings, although depicting theIndians in an Europeanized manner, provide considerable ethnographicinformation on Indian costumes, customs, ceremonies, and material pos-sessions, making the volume a gold mine of information for the anthropol-ogist and historian.

Anonymous. [Manuscript documents in Spanish, and two Mayandialects, Quiche and Kekchi, consisting of at least three separatetexts. (156-?)]

In all likelihood, Catholic missionaries working in the highlands ofGuatemala in the middle of the 16th century compiled these manuscripts.The documents offer a unique opportunity to see the process of religiousconversion during its seminal stages. In setting about the task of conver-

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sion, missionaries had to travel many hundreds of miles through unfriend-ly, if not overtly hostile territory, and master extremely difficult languages.Priests could select appropriate texts for many common situations from thistype of composite manuscript book. The first text contains biographies ofsix saints. The second contains a catechism and family genealogy, and thethird text is a schoolbook written in Latin, Spanish, and Mayan, for teach-ing numbers and various words.

Anonymous. Lienzo (illuminated document) on amate (fig treebark) paper. [Mexico, ca. 1645].

Don García Sarmiento de Sotomayor, Conde De Salvatierra, Viceroy ofNew Spain (1642-1649) may have commissioned the document as a repre-sentation of his dominion. It is bordered by 24 place-name glyphs framingthe central large coat-of-arms of the viceroy, with supporters to each side.The Lienzo is remarkable for its use of European and traditionalMesoamerican iconography at a very late date after the Conquest, andoffers testimony to the survival and adaptation of indigenous culture underSpanish domination.

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I T E M 2 7“Ceremonie Religieuse des Habitans de L’Isle Espagnolle ”

Bernard Picard (1673-1733). Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses des PeuplesIdolatres … Amsterdam: J.F. Bernard, 1723.

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TRAVELERS IN THE AGEOF DESCRIPTION

Francisco Lorenzana (1722-1804) & Hernando Cortés (1485 -1547). Historia de Nueva-Espana ... Mexico: Joseph Antonio deHogal, 1770.

Lorenzana was the Archbishop of Mexico from 1766 to 1772. In thisbook he reprints three of the Hernando Cortés letters to Charles V, withcopious annotations, along with two highly important maps: Alzate’s mapof New Spain and Castillo’s map of the Pacific Coast.

Historia de Nueva-Espana also includes a reproduction of an Azteccodex, the Matrícula de Tributos, the first native book to be published inEurope. This work is particularly important in that it reveals the econom-ics of the Aztec Empire, which had existed for only a little over a centurybefore the Spanish conquest. The Aztecs first pacified foreign territoriesthrough commercial trade, and after their submission, exacted tribute inmerchandise and raw materials desired by the Aztec elite in the centralhighlands of Mexico. This codex illustrates the precise tributes and thequantities of each, extracted on a regular basis like taxes, from the newprovinces.

Girolamo Benzoni (b. 1519). Novae Novi Orbis Historiae id estRerum ab Hispanis in India Occidentali hactenus Gestarum, &Acerbo illorum in eas Gentes Dominatu ... Geneva, 1578.

Benzoni was born in Milan in 1519 and, as a young man, became fasci-nated by the New World. From the age of 22, he spent 14 years travelingabroad and in 1556, he wrote a history of the New World that provides acompact history of America from the arrival of Columbus to the conquestof Peru. The Indians attracted his attention and he recorded details oftheir habits and traditions at a very early date. The accuracy of his obser-vation, depicted in rude woodcut illustrations, give a glimpse of indigenouslife before civilization inevitably altered their traditional life ways.

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The book was translated into several languages and was a great success,going through 32 editions outside Italy before the end of the 18th centu-ry. Although criticized for his tendency to exaggerate, his work gives first-hand observations not colored by Spanish bias. In fact, he denounced theSpanish not only for their treatment of the Indians, but also for importingslaves from Africa.

Diego de Landa (1524-1579). Relation des Choses deYucatan ... Texte Espagnol & Traduction Française en Regard,Comprenant les Signes du Calendrier et de l’Alphabet Hiero-glyphique de la Langue Maya ... Avec une Grammaire &Vocabulaire ... par Brasseur de Bourbourg. Paris: AugusteDurand, 1864.

Brasseur de Bourbourg discovered Landa’s manuscript in the archives ofthe Academia de la Historia, the Royal Library of Madrid, where it hadremained unnoticed for nearly two hundred years. Fray Diego de Landawas an ardent Franciscan and one of the first missionaries to Yucatan. Hebecame Bishop of Merida in 1573, and died in 1579. The manuscript waswritten in 1566, in Spain, where Landa had been recalled to answer accu-sations of cruelty against the Indians. His primary source for informationwas one of the last surviving Maya princes. It is indeed ironic that todayit is considered one of the most important accounts of the history, cus-toms and language of the Maya.

Antonio de Mendoza (1492?-1552). Manuscript, Relacion de lasCeremonias ... de los Indios de la Provencia de Mechoacan.

This is an 18th century scribal copy of an earlier, perhaps 16th cen-tury, work. In his prologue, the author says his intent in writing thebook was “to conduct an investigation among these new Christians todetermine what had been the nature of their beliefs, customs and gov-ernment .…” The text contains numerous watercolors depicting villagelife, religious ceremonies, and warfare among the Indians, and portraysseveral scenes of Indians practicing cannibalism. Although some ritualcannibalism did exist in Mexico during the pre-Columbian period, itwas much exaggerated by early chroniclers who relied on oral accountstold by Indians who had lived during the period before the Spanishsettled Mexico.

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Thomas Gage (1603?-1656). A New Survey of the West-Indies,Being a Journal of Three Thousand Miles within the Main Land ofAmerica … London: J. Nicholson, 1699.

Thomas Gage originally belonged to the Dominican Order and servedas a missionary priest in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama. Afterhis return to England in 1625, he joined the Church of England and wrotethis book which was the first to give a description of the vast regions fromwhich all foreigners had been excluded by the Spanish. In this book Gagedescribes Mexico and the wealth of South America and urges the masteryof Spanish territories in the New World by the English.

Arnoldus Montanus (1625?-1683). Die Nieuwe en OnbenkendeWeerld, of Beschryving van America en‘t Zuid-Land. Amsterdam,1671.

The persistence of the romantic and dramatic image of New World crea-tures is evident even as late as 1671, when several of the oddest images wereportrayed by Montanus (page 24). It is lavishly illustrated with 125 copperengravings including 32 folded views, 70 plates, 16 maps and seven unusu-ally handsome portraits of famous explorers, each surrounded by baroqueframed borders. This elaborate book illustrates the battles, festivals, reli-gious rites (including cannibalism), habitations, and customs of the Indiansof America. The meticulously drawn scenes include Dutch NewAmsterdam in eastern North America, Caribbean ports and islands, andnumerous ports and cities on both the east and west coasts of SouthAmerica. The wealth of information it contains and the beauty of the cop-perplates make it comparable to De Bry’s Voyages.

Bernard Picard (1673-1733). Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieusesdes Peuples Idolatres … Amsterdam: J.F. Bernard, 1723.

Many of Picard’s illustrations are adapted from De Bry’s Great Voyagesseries published a century before. Fortunately, they are engraved with equalexcellence. Theodore De Bry remained the most influential portrayer ofthe New World until the 18th century.

This volume describes the religious ceremonies and social customs of thenatives of the West Indies and adjacent shores. The Taino Indians of theGreater Antilles practiced a ritual rubber ball game, and carved magnifi-

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ITEM 26 — “Arbor Papaya”

Arnoldus Montanus (1625?-1683). Die Nieuwe en Onbenkende Weerld, ofBeschryving van America en‘t Zuid-Land. Amsterdam, 1671.

cent stone and wooden idols of substantial size. The allegorical scene onpage 20 shows a village festival in front of a huge arched shed or shrine,containing several anthropomorphic idols on platforms. While these fan-ciful figures, such as the hydra-headed standing personage, could reflect ashaman’s hallucinogenic visions, they do not resemble surviving Tainosculpture. Local shamans practiced the “Cohoba” ritual, where they ingest-ed potent tobacco and herbs to induce visions.

Anonymous. Manuscript, Descripcion de las Costas Yslas Y Vajosdesde Sn Martin una de las Yslas de Barlovento hasta LaHavana ... [Havana? 177-?].

The manuscript is a pilot-guide detailing the hazards of navigationbetween the island of St. Martin and the ports of Havana, San Juan andSanto Domingo, through the Windward Passage between Hispaniola andCuba and on to Veracruz in Mexico. A short section covers the route fromVeracruz through the Straits of Florida to Cadiz in Spain. In effect, this der-rotero [sailing atlas] describes the route of the bullion fleets from theSpanish colonies of the West Indies and Central America to Spain in the18th century.

Thomas Jeffreys. A Description of the Spanish Islands andSettlements on the Coast of the West Indies ... London, 1762.

This book, containing thirty-two folding maps, was published just afterwar had broken out between England and Spain, when information regard-ing the Spanish colonies in America became especially important. Theintroduction gives an interesting account of the way Spain traded with hercolonies and how the French, Dutch, and English sought footholds inthese lucrative markets.

Anonymous. Manuscript journal by an English carpenter, entitledAccount of a voyage to Jamaica (1816-1818).

This journal describes a journey from London to Jamaica, life on theisland, and a voyage to Wilmington, Delaware, and back to England.

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ITEM 35 — Title Page

Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (1645?-1707). De Americaensche Zee-Roovers. Amsterdam: Jan ten Hoorn, 1678.

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PIRATES

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (1519-1574). [Original autograph sailingorder, signed by Pedro Menéndez, instructing General Cristobál deEraso to proceed to Spain on the “Buenaventura” with his fleet, viathe Islands of Flores and San Miguel. With notary’s signed state-ment to the effect that the instructions were handed to GeneralEraso by the Governor of Cuba on 21st July 1572].

In the age of piracy on the high seas, sailing instructions were top secretdocuments upon whose security rested the king’s fleet and his treasure. Inthis document, Don Cristobál de Eraso is given complicated and detailedinstructions. He is admonished not to proceed beyond a designated ren-dezvous without further instructions from Menéndez “which would beaccording to whatever news I might have of [enemy] corsairs” and warninghim against “contravening [these orders]…under penalty of paying with hisperson and his property, for any injury to His Majesty of his royal treasury….”

At this time, Menéndez de Avilés was evidently the Governor ofFlorida, as he is described as “Adelantado” in these sailing orders.

Baptista Boazio. [Hand colored engraved view made to illustrateWalter Bigges’ and Master Croftes’ A summarie and true discourseof Sir Francis Drake’s West Indian Voyage (London, 1589 followedby Leiden editions in Latin and French of 1588)].

The view of St. Augustine is the earliest engraving of any locality in theUnited States. It shows the English fleet at anchor, having disembarked itsinfantry troops, which are seen attacking the Spanish settlement. Thedorado fish in the foreground is after a drawing by John White, governorof the first Anglo-American settlement in America, in the Hatteras regionthen called Virginia (now North Carolina). The raid of Francis Drake onthe West Indies of 1585-86 picked up the Virginia settlers and returnedthem to Europe. Boazio probably obtained the original drawings, or copies,from a member of the expedition along with the sketches of the towns anddetails of Drake’s attacks.

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James I (1566-1625). Royal Proclamation: Proclaiming Peace withSpain and Forbidding Armed Vessels from England AttackingSpanish Merchant Ships. Given at our Mannour of Greenwich the23 Day of June, in the First Yeere of our Reign of England, France,and Ireland. London: Robert Barker, 1603.

This proclamation (page 29) was directed at Sir Walter Raleigh and hisassociates. Raleigh was a thorn in the flesh of James I. Even before thedeath of Queen Elizabeth he opposed James’ claims, and was ready to go toany lengths to prevent his accession to the throne. Consequently, one ofJames’ first acts as King was to dismiss Raleigh from his various offices ofState and order cessation of hostilities with Spain. Raleigh was condemnedto death on a charge of conspiracy, but was reprieved and imprisoned inthe Tower of London where he wrote his unfinished History of the World.Released in 1616, he led a disastrous expedition to Brazil seeking gold. Onhis return, he was beheaded under his former sentence.

Jan Huygen van Linschoten (1563-1611). Discourse of voyages intoye Easte and West Indies. Devided into Foure Bookes. London:John Windet for John Wolfe, 1598.

The original Dutch edition of Linschoten’s Discourse appeared 1595-1596 and it is undoubtedly one of the most important travel books everpublished. Until its publication, no other work contained so much usableintelligence on the East and West Indies. Unhindered by censorship,Linschoten was able to include precise sailing directions and physicaldescriptions, travel accounts culled from contemporary Portuguese,Spanish and Dutch sources as well as information on commerce and trade.The book was so popular that it was given to each ship sailing fromHolland to India. This is the first English edition.

Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (1645?-1707). De AmericaenscheZee-Roovers. Amsterdam: Jan ten Hoorn, 1678.

First edition, in the original Dutch (page 26), of one of the most impor-tant pirate books ever written. Exquemelin, a native of Hafleur, went tothe Caribbean in 1666 with the French West Indies Company. He servedas surgeon for nearly ten years with the buccaneers and gives an eyewitnessaccount of the adventures of Henry Morgan, Francois Lolonois, Pierre le

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James I (1566-1625). Royal Proclamation:

Proclaiming Peace with Spainand Forbidding Armed Vessels

from England AttackingSpanish Merchant Ships.Given at our Mannour ofGreenwich the 23 Day of

June, in the First Yeere of ourReign of England, France,

and Ireland. London: RobertBarker, 1603.

Grand and Bartholomew Portugues. His authentic descriptions are filledwith vivid scenes of violence in exotic locations, enhanced with full-pageengravings of the buccaneers and their exploits. Then, as now, it was a surerecipe for popular success and became the model for numerous imitations.

Anonymous. Manuscript, Relacion de los Sucesos del año de 1680de Portovelo y Panama. (Panama, June 10th 1680).

Although in the 16th and 17th centuries Panama was the secondstrongest fortress in South America (after Cartagena), English piratesmade several raids on that part of the coast. They found it a lucrativeoccupation, and in 1671 Morgan’s buccaneers sacked the town. After thedemolition of Portobello in 1673, massive granite ramparts were construct-ed. Nonetheless…

“On Friday, the 17th of February, a boy came running downthe street by the slaughterhouse at Portobello, calling out, ‘Toyour arms, Christians, for the English are coming.’… The enemy,seeing that the inhabitants has [sic] fled and left their housesempty (with so little trouble to themselves) found, on investiga-tion, that the saucepans containing the midday meal were stillcooking, and promptly set about looting wherever they foundunprotected houses.”

The report, though unsigned, is probably the work of one of the mission-aries, whose letters rendered them the unofficial historians of their period.

William Dampier (1652-1715). A New Voyage Round the World.Describing Particularly, the Isthmus of America, Several Coastsand Islands of the West Indies ... London: James Knapton, 1697.

Dampier’s voyage, under Captain Swan in the Cygnet, in 1680 took himfrom Virginia to Spanish America and across the Pacific to the East Indies.Throughout the next twenty years, he traveled extensively. In 1688 he vis-ited Australia (New Holland) for the first time and made a survey of KingSound. In 1698, after the first volume of his voyages had been published togreat acclaim, he was commissioned as a captain in the Royal Navy andundertook another expedition to Australia. In all, Dampier circumnavi-gated the globe three times. He was the best known, and probably the mostintelligent, of the buccaneers who harassed the Spaniards for nearly half acentury from 1680 to the 1720’s. His books contain a wealth of accurate

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information about the places that he visited, delivered in a straightforward,unaffected style. Dampier was amply rewarded for his efforts. His Voyageswere great successes and were reprinted regularly becoming models formany of his less literate companions, often to his dismay.

Lionel Wafer (1660?-1705). A New Voyage and Description of theIsthmus of America ...London: James Knapton, 1699.

Wafer was an English naval surgeon who deserted to join the bucca-neers. This book recounts his adventures and observations during his vari-ous expeditions to the Isthmus, the western coast of South America, andthe West Indies from 1680 to 1688. While crossing the Isthmus of Panamaafter the taking of Santa Maria, Wafer was injured and left in the care ofDarien Indians. The Indians took a liking to him, which allowed for thecollection of material for this work. William Dampier, the English bucca-neer and explorer, whose sloop picked up Wafer after his recovery regardedWafer as an authority on the region. Today, his book remains a standardreference on Panama and the Isthmus.

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ITEM 39 — Title Page

Juan Eusebio Nieremberg (1595-1658). Historia Naturae Maxime Peregrine Libris XVI Distinta. Antwerp, 1635.

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THE AGE OF SCIENTIFICINVESTIGATION

Juan Eusebio Nieremberg (1595-1658). Historia Naturae MaximePeregrine Libris XVI Distinta. Antwerp, 1635.

The first and only edition of this encyclopedic work (page 32), devotedto the flora and fauna of the New World. The greater part deals with thenatural history of Mexico (New Spain), and describes many new speciesfor the first time, with additional information on the customs and rites ofthe Aztecs and Incas. The natural history of the New World had beendescribed earlier in various passages of travel accounts and citations inherbals but Nieremberg’s Historia Naturae was the first attempt to put thesevarious facts in order, and in supplying the indigenous names for the plantsand animals described, the work became an important linguistic documentfor the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs.

Antonio de León y Gama (1735-1802). Descripción Histórica yCronológica de las Dos Piedras que con Ocasión del NuevoEmpedrado que se está Formando en la Plaza Principal de México,se Hallaron en ella Año de 1790... Mexico: Felipe de Zuñiga yOntiveros, 1792.

The volume marks the first scientific study of the Aztec “CalendarStone” and its first graphic representation. In 1790 the authorities decidedto repave the Zócalo, the central plaza of Mexico City, as part of a largedrainage and reconstruction project. In removing the old paving stonesand excavating for a new foundation to support the new stones, the AztecCalendar Stone and other antiquities were discovered, a mere 18 inchesbelow the surface of the plaza, where they had lain since the destruction ofTenochtitlán by Hernando Cortés. Their discovery changed forever theSpanish perception of the pre-contact Indians, for this discovery was posi-tive proof of their scientific and artistic advancement.

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Antonio del Río (fl. 1786-1789). Colección de Estampas Copiadasde las Figuras … de Chiapas, una de las del Reyno de Guatemala enla América Septentrional. [Palenque, 1787].

The complete series of 30 manuscript drawings of Palenque reliefs byRicardo Almendáriz for Antonio del Río was made on the first seriousexpedition to the Maya ruins, marking the dawn of scientific archaeologyin the New World. The text has been preserved in the Real Academia deHistoria in Madrid while the drawings were only recently rediscovered ina private European collection. This classic Maya city, perched high on ashelf cut into a mountainside in Chiapas, was abandoned in the 9th cen-tury and swallowed up by the forests. It was unnoticed by Cortés whopassed nearby in 1524 and largely ignored until Carlos III acceded to thethrone of Spain. In 1787, he sent Antonio del Río, artillery Captain andthe artist Ricardo Almendáriz on an expedition to examine the casas depiedra [the houses of stone], to collect material for his Real Gabinete deHistoria Natural.

Del Río and his men spent two weeks clearing the site and three moreweeks studying, drawing and exploring. Del Río recounted the work in aremarkable report that was illustrated with the 30 drawings made byAlmendáriz. A copy of the text (but not the drawings) was made for thecolonial archives and the original report and drawings were sent on toSpain.

Antonio del Río (fl. 1786-1789). Description of the Ruins of anAncient City Discovered near Palenque, in the Kingdom ofGuatemala in Spanish America: Translated from the OriginalManuscript Report ... London: Henry Berthoud, 1822.

The first edition of the first book devoted to Maya archaeology. Despitethe comparative care of Río’s report and great public interest in the topic,the wars which at that time overwhelmed Europe, and Spain in particular,delayed publication of such studies. It was not until after the end of theNapoleonic Wars that Río’s manuscript re-emerged. When a man by thename of Mr. Guy discovered the colonial copy of the text in Guatemala.He took or sent it to London where it was translated and published in 1822,illustrated with seventeen plates lithographed by Frederick Waldeck afterdrawings of Ricardo Almendáriz.

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Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859). Vues de Cordillères etMonuments des Peuples Indigenes de L’Amérique. Paris, 1810.

Humboldt, the great German geographer and naturalist, publishedextensively on physical geography, geology, zoology, botany, astronomy,and, almost parenthetically, archaeology. He traveled throughout Cuba,Central America, and South America (especially the Orinoco river basinand the Andean highlands) from 1799 to 1804.

The Vues des Cordillères is notable for its beautiful aquatint plates ofscenes in South and Central America made after Humdoldt’s originalsketches. The atlas includes the first printed reproductions of the Vaticanusand Dresden Maya codices as well as drawings and analyses of three colossalAztec stone monuments: the twelve-foot “calendar” stone, the circularaltar of Tizoc and the awesome statue of Coatlicue, all of which had beendiscovered under the central plaza Zócalo in Mexico City in 1790.

The Imperial Russian copy from the Tsarskoe Selo library.

Guillermo Dupaix (d. 1818?) & Alexandre Lenoir (1761-1839).Antiquités Mexicaines. Relation des Trois Expéditions duCapitaine Dupaix, Ordonnés en 1805, 1806 et 1807... Paris: JulesDidot, 1833-34. 2 vols.

Guillermo Dupaix was born of French parents in Hungary and grew up inSpain. Charles IV appointed him to head an expedition to survey the antiq-uities of Mexico, with specific orders to research the nature of the Pre-Columbian civilization in the Maya region. The 166 lithographic plates ofarchitectural views and artifacts, after drawings by Lucindo Castañeda, arestrikingly beautiful. The wealth of illustrations make Dupaix’s work aninvaluable complement to Humboldt’s Voyage dans l’Amerique. Realizingtheir importance, Lord Kingsborough copied them for use in his Antiquities.

Edward King, Viscount Kingsborough (1795-1837). Antiquities ofMexico: Comprising Fac-similes of Ancient Mexican Paintings andHieroglyphics. London: Robert Havell … and Colnaghi, Son, andCo., 1831.

Folio with 743 lithographed plates by Agustín Aglio. This monumentalwork presented the European public with a vast compendium of Pre-Columbian Mexican art that, at the time of its publication, was almostentirely unknown. The genesis of this work was described by the Americanbibliophile Obadiah Rich (who assisted Kingsborough in his search for

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materials) “[Kingsborough’s] penchant for Mexican antiquities was pro-duced by the sight of the original Mexican manuscript described byPurchas (Pilgrims, III) preserved in the Bodleian Library...From the time hefirst saw it he appears to have devoted his whole mind to it and to havethought of nothing else.” Lord Kingsborough employed the Italian painterAgustín Aglio to search Europe for Mexican manuscripts, which he thencopied and transferred to lithographic stones.

In 1837, having spent upwards of £30,000, Kingsborough fell into finan-cial difficulties, was arrested in Dublin for debt and thrown into prisonwhere he contracted typhus fever, and died soon thereafter. Had he lived afew months longer, he would have inherited the title of Earl of Kingston,with an estate of £40,000 a year. “This work in its magnificence recalls tomind the patronage of crowned heads, and the splendor of the princelypatrons of literature. It has no taint about it of author or bookseller— itcomes in the astounding form of nine volumes, imperial folio, and the costof producing the whole will exceed fifty or perhaps sixty thousandpounds.” — The Athenaeum (1848).

John Lloyd Stephens (1805-1852). Incidents of Travel in CentralAmerica, Chiapas and Yucatan ... New York: Harper, 1841.

Frederick Catherwood (1799-1854). [Study for Maya monument,pencil and brown wash].

Frederick Catherwood (1799-1854). Views of Ancient Monumentsin Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan. London: Bartlett andWelford, 1844.

John Lloyd Stephens, the outgoing American writer, and FrederickCatherwood, a quiet English artist, were the first explorers to accuratelydescribe and illustrate the art of the pre-Hispanic Maya of Mexico andCentral America. Through their highly popular publications (first pub-lished in 1841 and 1843 but still in print today), they introduced theancient Maya to a world that knew little of their existence, and stimulatedresearch on the Maya for generations.

Catherwood first met Stephens in London in 1836. They shared a pas-sion for archaeology, and set off together for Central America in October1839. After an arduous trip over the mountains they reached Copán on 17

November 1839. From there they moved to Quirugua, Palenque, andUxmal. Catherwood came down with a severe attack of malarial fever, andthey were forced to return to New York at the end of July 1840.

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Their second expedition began in the autumn of 1841, when theyreturned to Uxmal. Their work was an almost complete survey of the Mayacivilization and the fruits of their labor resulted in two books, Incidents ofTravel in Central America and Yucatan (1841), and Incidents of Travel inYucatan (1843). Catherwood’s own work, Views of Ancient Monuments ofCentral America Chiapas and Yucatan, was published in 1844. Tragically,most of Catherwood’s original drawings were destroyed in a disastrous firethat swept through their New York gallery in July 1842.

As the first great illustrator of Maya antiquities, Frederick Catherwoodholds a special place in the history of research on ancient Maya civilization.The twenty-five lithographs in Views of Ancient Monuments in CentralAmerica, Chiapas and Yucatan represent an important part of Catherwood’scontribution to the study of American antiquities. From his hundreds ofpen and wash drawings of Maya sculpture and architecture, he selectedtwenty-five to be reproduced lithographically. Only three hundred copies ofthis magnificent album ever came off the press.

Claude Joseph Désiré Charnay (1828-1915). [Portfolio of 35mounted albumen prints depicting ruins at Mitla, Izamal, ChichénItzá, and Uxmal. Mexico, 1859-1860].

This portfolio is the result of the first systematic photographic expedi-tion to Mesoamerican ruins made by the French photographer andexplorer Désiré Charnay during two seasons of fieldwork in 1859 and1860. Charnay’s work was instrumental in attracting serious scholarlyinterest in pre-conquest Mexico, thus setting the stage for later intensivearchaeological studies of Mesoamerican civilization. Charnay’s systematicapproach at photographing ruins, and his triumph over tremendous logis-tical problems places him in the grand tradition of 19th century expedi-tionary photography.

Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg (1814-1874) & Frédéric deWaldeck (1766-1875). Monuments Anciens du Mexique et duYucatan, Palanque ... et Autres Ruines de l’Ancienne Civilisationdu Mexique ... Paris: Bertrand, 1866.

The expedition of Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg and Frédéricde Waldeck was the third (after those of Del Río and Dupaix) to exploreand research in depth the antiquities of Mesoamerica. After illustrating

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del Río’s noted book on Palenque, in 1822, Waldeck met LordKingsborough and the two became friends. Kingsborough financed a three-year expedition in the 1830’s to record the monuments that are describedand magnificently illustrated in the present book. Fifty-four lithographs.

William Botting Hemsley (1843-1924). Biologia Centrali-Americana: Botany. London: 1879-1888.

Alfred P. Maudslay (1850-1931). Biologia Centrali-Americana:Archaeology. London: Porter and Dulan, 1889-1902.

F. Ducane Goodman and Osbert Slavin edited the botanical volumes ofthe Biologia Centrali-Americana. Hemsley served as a botanist at KewGardens from 1865-1867, then worked as a private scientist from 1867-1883. He returned to Kew in 1883, eventually serving as keeper of theherbarium and library. There are five volumes, with 110 lithographedplates (18 of which are hand-colored).

As a young man Alfred Maudslay traveled, extensively, including a tripto Central America and the West Indies. In 1875, he accepted a positionas secretary to Governor Sir William Cairns in Trinidad. When his superi-or was transferred to Australia, Maudslay accompanied him. Maudslaystayed on with the Foreign Service in various posts in the South Pacificuntil 1879 when he returned to England with the intention of traveling inCentral America for pleasure. He later wrote, “The principal object of myfirst journey was not geographical or antiquarian research, but a desire topass the winter in a warm climate…However, the interest awakened by thesight of the truly wonderful monuments…induced me to take other andbetter equipped expeditions.”

Thus, between the ages of 31 and 44 Maudslay devoted his life to theMaya ruins, making casts, taking photographs, and recording monumentsin notes and drawings. The Archaeology section of Biologia Centrali-Americana was a monumental task that took Maudslay thirteen years tocomplete. Maudslay’s work has provided a striking example of the value ofscientific as opposed to intuitive research. If it was John Lloyd Stephenswho first called general attention to the treasures of this lost civilization,then it was Alfred Percival Maudslay who laid the firm foundation onwhich Maya archaeology now stands. The four volumes are unbound asissued, in 17 folios and includes 392 plates.

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AUTHOR INDEX

Anonymous . . . . . . . . 16, 19, 20,

28, 30, 36

Benzoni, Girolamo. . . . . . . . . . 22

Boazio, Baptista . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Brasseur de Bourbourg, CharlesÉtienne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Bry, Theodore De . . . . . . . . . . 18

Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Nuñez . 15

Casas, Bartholomé de Las . . 12, 13

Catherwood, Frederick . . . . . . 46

Charnay Claude JosephDésiré . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Columbus, Christopher . . . . . . . 1Cortés, Hernando . . . . 3, 4, 5, 21

Dampier, William . . . . . . . . . . 37

Díaz, Juan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Díaz del Castillo, Bernal . . . . . 11

Dupaix, Guillermo . . . . . . . . . 45

Eden, Richard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Elvas, A Gentleman of . . . . . 14

Enciso, Martín Fernandez de . . . 6Exquemelin, Alexandre

Olivier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Gage, Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Hemsley, William Botting . . . . 49

Humboldt, Alexander von . . . 44

James I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Jeffreys, Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Kingsborough, Lord [EdwardKing] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Landa, Diego de . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Laudonnière, RenéGoulaine de . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

León y Gama, Antonio de. . . . 40

Linschoten, Jan Huygen van . . 34

López de Gómara, Francisco . . 10

Lorenzana, Francisco . . . . . . . . 21

Martire d’Anghiera, Pietro . . . . 8Maudslay, Alfred P. . . . . . . . . . 49

Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro . . . 31

Mendoza, Antonio de . . . . . . . 24

Montanus, Arnoldus . . . . . . . . 26

Nieremberg, Juan Eusebio . . . . 39

Picard, Bernard . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Río, Antonio del . . . . . . . 41, 42

Stephens, John Lloyd . . . . . . . 46

Wafer, Lionel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Waldseemüller, Martin . . . . . . . 2

One thousand copies of this catalog have been printed

from Goudy type on Neenah Classic Crest, Recycled Natural White, 70 lb. Text

and Neenah Classic Laid, Mahogany/Camel Hair, 88 lb. Duplexat Atlantic Litho.

Design by Mary Ann Stavros-Lanning, MASWEL GroupSeptember 1998

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