Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. (1843) [James Russell's copy]

New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1963. [1843]. Facsimile reprint, two volumes, illustrated, pp xvi, 336; xiv, 303, paperback, slightly used internally, paperback, the covers slightly worn and faded. From the library of the plantsmand and garden designer Jim Russell , with his bookplates designed by Felix Kelly. [Stephens was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. He was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America and in the planning of the Panama railroad. He and the draughtsman Frederick Catherwood visited a total of 44 Mayan sites such as Mayapan, Uxmal, Kabah, the gateway at Labná, Sayil, Xtampak, Chichen Itza, Tulum, and Izamal. In Uxmal, they documented the Governor's House, the Nunnery Quadrangle and the Pyramid of the Magician. Catherwood also drew a famous view of the well at Bolonchén. Catherwood's drawings and lithographs showed, without question, the Maya to have been the authors of some of the most artistic and intellectual works of pre-Columbian America. Besides large constructions, they produced works of artistic refinement such as stone and plaster sculptures, frescoes, painted pottery and bas-reliefs in wood. As a result of his explorations, Stephens argued convincingly that the Mayans built the ancient Central American cities in contrast to the theory that ethnic groups from European or Asian civilizations had built them.]. Paperback. Good.