Alfred Percival Maudslay (British, 1850-1931), photogravure of Mayan Stela N, ca. 1890 CE. A wonderful photogravure of the north face of Mayan Stela N in Copan published between 1889 and 1902 in the "Biologia Centrali-Americana, Flora y Fauna", one of the first publications that provided a significant body of Maya inscriptions that continues to remain an invaluable source. Maudslay was a British colonial diplomat, archaeologist, and explorer who was among the first archaeologists to study Mayan civilization. He began his career working for the colonial service in Queensland, Trinidad, Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa; however parted ways with the colonial service in 1880 to travel to Guatemala where he explored Mayan ruins at Copan and Quirigua with archaeologist Frank Sarg. The pair then travelled to Tikal. Maudsley was also the first European scholar to describe Yaxchitlan, and he became famous for his explorations of Chichen with Teoberto Maler. Size: image measures 11.75" L x 7.5" W (29.8 cm x 19 cm); sheet measures 19.5" L x 12.625" W (49.5 cm x 32.1 cm)

Inspired by the travel accounts of Stephens and Catherwood, Alfred P. Maudslay carried out eight expeditions to the Maya area between 1881 and 1894. His more detailed work deals with six sites: Copán, Quirigua, Yaxchilán, Chichen Itza and Palenque. He photographed the monuments and their inscriptions, and made moulds with plaster and paper. The paper and plaster moulds made during his expeditions, at great cost, were sent to England. Maudslay donated his collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum on condition that casts would be made by his assistant Giuntini at the Museum’s expense. The casts were made between 1886 and 1891 and were later transferred to The British Museum. The Maudslay Collection, now in the Department of Ethnography, consists of over 400 plaster casts, paper and plaster moulds, glass negatives and journals written during his expeditions. It also includes nine stone sculptures from Copán and eight lintels from Yaxchilán. The results of his research, including drawings by Annie Hunter, photographs, site plans and descriptions, were published between 1889 and 1902 in the Biologia Centrali-Americana, Flora y Fauna. These publications formed the first significant corpus of Maya inscriptions and remain an invaluable tool to modern epigraphers.

Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA collection

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#124788

Normal discoloration and a few creases to the paper. Small area of staining on lower right margin. Image is still very vivid.