Lost Cities of the Maya

Lost Cities of the Maya (French: Les cités perdues des Mayas) is an illustrated monograph on Maya archaeology, published in pocket format by Éditions Gallimard in 1987. Co-written by the French Mayanist and iconologist Claude-François Baudez and art historian Sydney Picasso, this work is the 20th volume in the “Découvertes Gallimard” collection[1] (known as "Abrams Discoveries" in the United States, and "New Horizons" in the United Kingdom), and was adapted into a documentary film in 2000, with the same title.[2]

Lost Cities of the Maya
First French edition. The cover featuring El Castillo of Tulum, lithograph by Frederick Catherwood, 1844.
AuthorClaude-François Baudez
Sydney Picasso
Original titleLes cités perdues des Mayas
TranslatorCaroline Palmer
Cover artistFrederick Catherwood
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Series
Release number
20th in collection
SubjectMaya archaeology
GenreNonfiction monograph
Publisher
Publication date
4 December 1987
23 October 2008 (new ed.)
Published in English
1992
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages176 pp.
ISBN978-2-0705-3035-9 (first edition)
OCLC798831222
Preceded byLes fossiles, empreinte des mondes disparus 
Followed bySur des mers inconnues : Bougainville, Cook, Lapérouse 

Introduction
The back cover featuring the mask made of jade, pyrite, and shell, from Tikal. Early Classic period. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala.

The book is part of the Archéologie series in the "Découvertes Gallimard" collection, that is to say, we are interested here in the rediscovery of Maya civilization, and in the study of archaeological sites, objects and documents discovered in the region, from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the twentieth century, but not in the history of this civilization.

According to the tradition of "Découvertes", this collection is based on an abundant pictorial documentation and a way of bringing together visual documents and texts, enhanced by printing on coated paper; in other words, "genuine monographs, published like art books".[3]

In the choice of pictorial documents, priority is given to originality and novelty, such as the original polychrome plates made by the English explorer Frederick Catherwood, about the "Maya Empire", gathered for this book.[4] It's almost like a "graphic novel", replete with colour plates.

Contents

The book opens with a "trailer" (pp. 1–9), that is, a series of full-page archaeological photographs from Alfred Maudslay's Biologia Centrali-Americana, published between 1889 and 1902. The body text is divided into six chapters: I, "Conquistadors and Missionaries" (pp. 13–29); II, "Artists and Adventurers" (pp. 31–55); III, "The Age of the Scholars" (pp. 57–81); IV, "The Photographer-explorers" (pp. 83–99); V, "Symbols in Stone" (pp. 101–115); VI, "From Image to Reality" (pp. 117–127).

The second part of the book, the "Documents", containing a compilation of excerpts divided into five parts: 1, Insights of the First Travelers (pp. 130–135); 2, Explorers Rediscover a Lost World (pp. 136–145); 3, Cracking the Code (pp. 146–155); 4, The Quiché Maya's Book of Counsel (pp. 156–159); 5, Ancient Maya, Modern Maya (pp. 160–167). They are followed by a "Further Reading" (p. 168), "List of Illustrations" (pp. 169–172) and "Index" (pp. 172–174).

Reception

On Babelio, the book gets an average of 3.80/5 based on 22 ratings.[5] Goodreads reported, based on 46 ratings, an average of 3.46 out of 5, indicating "generally positive opinions".[6]

Adaptation

In 2000, in co-production with La Sept-Arte and Trans Europe Film, in collaboration with Éditions Gallimard, made the documentary adaptation of Les cités perdues des Mayas under the same title, directed by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky, with voice-over narration by François Marthouret and Marc Zammit. The film was shot in Mexico and Guatemala,[7] and broadcast on Arte as part of the television programme The Human Adventure.[2][8] It has been dubbed into German under the title Stätten und Kultur der Maya,[9] and subtitled into English and Spanish.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Les cités perdues des Mayas, Collection Découvertes Gallimard (n° 20), Série Archéologie". gallimard.fr (in French). 23 October 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  2. "L'Aventure humaine — Les cités perdues des Mayas" (PDF). pro.arte.tv (in French). 2002. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  3. Garcia, Daniel (1 November 2005). "L'invention des Découvertes". lexpress.fr (in French). Retrieved 26 November 2020. De véritables monographies, éditées comme des livres d'art.
  4. Hache-Bissette, Françoise (2002). "Découvertes Gallimard ou la culture encyclopédique à la française — Un concept éditorial nouveau". ricochet-jeunes.org (in French). Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  5. "Les cités perdues des Mayas". babelio.com (in French). Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  6. "Lost Cities Of The Maya". goodreads.com. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  7. "Cahier Didactique — Les Cités perdues des Mayas". home.scarlet.be (in French). 2000. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  8. "L'Aventure humaine — Dix films : Les cités perdues des Mayas" (PDF). pro.arte.tv (in French). 2002. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  9. "Stätten und Kultur der Maya". programm.ard.de (in German). 4 April 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  10. "Répertoire des films documentaires 2000/2003 — Histoire ancienne et moderne : Les Cités perdues des Mayas" (PDF). diplomatie.gouv.fr (in French, English, and Spanish). 2003. p. 43. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
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