Facsimile Manuscript report to Guatemalan Governor José Estachería Unknown - 1993

16 facsimile hand written pages with diagrams and three fold out diagrams of Palenque. Folio (12 1/2" x 8 1/2") bound in velum with black label and gilt lettering to cover. Testimonio's Tabula Americae. Limited to 980 copies of which this is 169.

Spanish artillery Captain Antonio del Río's (ca. 1745-ca. 1789) discovery of tangible evidence of an amazingly rich Maya past and this printed report were the beginning of the study of this truly lost civilization. In May 1786 upon the order of the Spanish Crown, Governor and Brigadier General of the Royal Audencia of Guatemala, Don José Estachería sent Río to Chiapas to investigate rumors of an ancient city near Santo Domingo del Palenque and determine the origin of its inhabitants. Rio was preceded by other visitors to Palenque, the most recent being two brief forays by José Antonio Calderón, a local official, and Spanish architect Antonio Bernasconi, whose sparse observations prompted the order for the full-scale investigation by Río. The Spanish… Leer más