Researches, Concerning the Institutions and Monuments of the Ancient Inhabitants of America, with Descriptions and Views of Some of the Most Striking Scenes in the Cordilleras!

Humboldt vividly describes the geography and culture of Latin America in this 1810 travelogue, published in English translation in 1814.

Alexander von Humboldt (Author), Helen Maria Williams (Translated by)

9781108027908, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 June 2011

438 pages, 9 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.5 cm, 0.55 kg

Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was an internationally respected scientist and explorer whose meticulous approach to scientific observation greatly influenced later research. He travelled the world, once staying at the White House as a guest of Thomas Jefferson, and is commemorated in the many species and places which bear his name. This two volume work, published in French in 1810 as Vue des Cordillères, and in this English translation in 1814, was one of the many publications that resulted from Humboldt's expedition to Latin America in 1799–1804. It describes geographical features such as volcanoes and waterfalls, and aspects of the indigenous cultures including architecture, sculpture, art, languages and writing systems, religions, costumes and artefacts. This approachable, closely observed travelogue vividly recounts a huge variety of impressions and experiences, and reveals Humboldt's boundless curiosity as well as his scientific and cultural knowledge.

1. Picturesque atlas of travels to the equinoctial regions of the new continent
2. Monuments of America, and picturesque views of the Cordilleras
3. Statue of an Azteck priestess
4. View of the great square of Mexico
5. Natural bridges of Icononzo
6. Passage of Quindiu, in the Cordillera of the Andes
7. Fall of the Tequendama
8. Pyramid of Cholula
9. Detached mass of the pyramid of Cholula
10. Monument of Xochicalco
11. Volcano of Cotopaxi
12. Mexican monument in relief, found at Oaxaca
13. Genealogy of the princes of Azcapozalco
14. An Azteck hieroglyphical manuscript preserved in the library of the Vatican
15. Azteck hieroglyphics from the manuscript of Veletri
16. View of Chimborazo and Carguairazo
17. Peruvian monument at Cannar
18. Rock of Inti-guaicu
19. Ynga-Chungana, near Cannar
20. Interior of the house of the Inca at Cannar
21. Azteck bas-relief, found in the great square of Mexico
22. Basaltic rocks and cascade of Regla
23. Relief in basalt, representing the Mexican calendar
24. Correspondence of English weights and measures with those used in France.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK]