Description
This collection contains 517 original proof sheets for Lord Kingsborough (Edward King, 1795-1837)'s landmark publication,
Antiquities of Mexico: comprising fac-similes of ancient Mexican paintings and hieroglyphics, preserved in the royal libraries
of Paris, Berlin and Dresden, in the Imperial library of Vienna, in the Vatican library; in the Borgian museum at Rome; in
the library of the Institute at Bologna; and in the Bodleian library at Oxford. Together with the Monuments of New Spain,
by M. Dupaix: with their respective scales of measurement and accompanying descriptions. The whole illustrated by many valuable
inedited manuscripts, by Augustine Aglio. London: A. Aglio (Vols. 1–5), R. Havell (Vols. 6–7), H.G. Bohn (Vols. 8–9)
, was published between 1830-1848.
Antiquities of Mexico made available facsimiles of Mesoamerican pictorial codices, many for the first time. Kingsborough employed the Italian artist
Agostino Aglio to create drawings from manuscripts held in European libraries. The first volumes appeared in 1830. Production
required thousands of pounds of paper, and costs reached the tens of thousands of Pounds Sterling causing financial difficulty
for both Kingsborough and Aglio. Publication contiuned until 1848, reaching nine volume, and plans for a tenth which failed
to materialize before Kingsborough's death.
Background
Irish peer Lord Kingsborough (1795-1837) initiated, financed, compilied, and edited nine published volumes of ancient Mexican
manuscripts and paintings preserved in various libraries throughout Europe as well as other pictorial physical remains. The
published work known as the Antiquities of Mexico took approximately 18 years to produce and the last two volumes were published after Kingsborough's 1837 death of typhus
in a Dublin debtors' prison.
Restrictions
Property rights reside with the repository. Any applicable literary rights would reside with the creators of the documents
or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please email sutro@library.ca.gov