1887 Ancient Cities Of The New World By Charnay Map 35 Plts Toltec Chichen Itza

  

Translated from the French by J Gonino and Helen S Conant. It is a first English edition published by Chapman and Hall, London in 1887. There is a fold-out colour map showing the Toltec migrations as well as 35 b/w plates (including frontispiece) and a further 274 b/w in-text illustrations including Chichen-Itza. This tells of the travels of Charnay, a French explorer and archaeologist who was. Commissioned by the French government in 1857 and spent four years collecting relics in Mexico and compiling a photographic archive of the ruins he saw there.

Charnay's explorations of the ancient cities of Central America (1880-83) were partly financed by the New York philanthropist Pierre Lorillard. Charnay developed a theory of Toltec migrations in which he argued that certain prehistoric peoples of Central America were of Asian origin. This is his major work on this subject.

Navy cloth hardboards with a gilt image of a tower and smaller building to the front board. Gilt illustration and lettering to the spine. Black pattern to the top and bottom edge of the boards which extends across the head and tail of the spine. Some sporadic light foxing to the pages but largely clean.

514 pages, 27 x 19 cm. We wrap and post the parcels on Monday and Tuesday - therefore if you pay before midday on Tuesday we will get it in the postal sacks on Tuesday night, and if it is after that time then it will go into the postal service on the following Monday.