The Manuscript Hunter: Brasseur de Bourbourg's Travels through Central America and Mexico, 1854–1859 (American Exploration and Travel Series)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.60 (748 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0806155027 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-10-04 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
While civil wars raged throughout Mexico and Central America and foreign interests sought access to the region’s rich resources, Brasseur focused on uncovering Mesoamerica’s mysterious past by examining its ancient manuscripts and living oral traditions. In two decades of traveling throughout Mexico, Central America, and Europe, French priest Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg (1814–1874) amassed hundreds of indigenous manuscripts and printed books, including grammars and vocabularies that brought to light languages and cultures little known at the time. Brasseur’s writings weave vivid geographical descriptions of Central America and Mexico during the mid-1800s with keen social and political analysis, all steeped in vast knowledge of the region’s history and interest in its indigenous cultures. His “Notes from a Voyage in Central America,” “From Guatemala City to Rabinal,” and Voyage across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec document his travels in search of these texts and traditions. . Although his efforts yielded many of the foundational texts of Mesoamerican studies—the pre-Columbian Codex Troana, the only known copies of the Popol Vuh and the indigenous dance drama Rabinal-Achi, and Diego De Landa’s Relación de la cosas de Yucatán—Brasseur earned disdain among scholars for his theories
Christenson, author of Art and Society in a Highland Maya Community: The Altarpiece of Santiago Atitlán. “These writings by Brasseur de Bourbourg are something of a revelation—well written, surprisingly insightful for his time, and eminently readable, with refreshing detail and good humor. There are passages of brilliance when the abbé focuses on local Maya customs and ritual practices, which he presents with a surprising degree of respect for Maya culture that often falls on the side of advocacy.” —Allen J