Beschreibung von Mejico von [.] Mühlenpfordt. [Süd-Mexikanische Alterthümer: Reste der alten Priester-Paläste und Idole zu Mitla im Staate Oajaca].

Descripción:

Folio (210 x 332 mm). 97 (but: 98) pp., final blank leaf. German manuscript on paper. Pages 1-16 paginated by a contemporary hand, the rest bearing a later pencil pagination. Written on two differently coloured papers, pages 1 through 44 on ochre-coloured paper, pages 45 to the end on a light-blueish paper. Loosely stitched quires in contemporary blue paper wrappers. Unpublished autograph manuscript draft of Mühlenpfordt s description of Mitla, conceived to accompany a portfolio of 25 watercolour drawings of the ruins, and reflecting multiple stages of composition through extensive cancellations, corrections, and additions in ink and pencil. - Records five research journeys to Mitla and situates the site within Zapotec and Mixtec history, with detailed remarks on architecture, masonry techniques, and ornamental design, while arguing against facile comparisons with European or Egyptian models and asserting the distinctiveness of indigenous American building traditions. - A working author s copy of unusual richness, with whole passages reworked and extended, including the expansion of an initially brief remark on the plates executed after Luciano Castañeda s drawings made for the Dupaix expeditions, cancelled and/or rearranged notes on parallels between Mitla and Uxmal in Yucatán, and newly added footnotes engaging earlier literature. - Marginal annotations reveal the author s critical method: they flag tone ("judgmental phrasing" in reference to John Lloyd Stephens) and even note physical flaws in an earlier draft ("hole" precisely located), thus documenting the editorial history of the text. - The introduction reports that an earlier version completed in 1832 was lost in part during the author s travels, making this surviving draft the principal witness to his intended commentary for the Mitla portfolio. - Of particular interest to the historiography of Mesoamerican archaeology, Mühlenpfordt s text stands at the intersection of field observation and early scholarly synthesis, complementing his measured drawings and anticipating later printed accounts; the draft s layered revisions offer first-hand evidence of how European observers negotiated sources and developed an independent appreciation of Zapotec architectural language. - Wrappers detached. Front wrapper and first 5 pages slightly waterstained. Cover-title rather faded. First two leaves with a small piece torn out in lower blank margin, dust-soiling to margins of a few leaves. - Removed from the library of Ernst August, King of Hanover (1771-1851). Old shelfmark and ownership of Cämmerier Heddenhausen to front wrapper. - Cf. Palau 184260. Sabin 51258. J. A. Ortega y Medina and J. M. Ruiz (eds.), Los palacios de los Zapotecas en Mitla. Peñafiel, Monumentos del arte mexicano antiguo II, plates 212-227. N° de ref. del artículo 67581

Denunciar este artículo