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- A
well-illustrated, edited book series with classical accounts of the first discoveries of a wide
range of ancient cities and civilizations, from Troy and Egypt to the Caribbean Sea.
Fig.1: View of Nile felucca, or sailboat, from Pharoahs, Fellahs, and Explorers. - Amelia Edwards, Pharaohs,
Fellahs, and Explorers. A lively narrative of the first excavations by
Flinders Petrie and Maspero, among others, of ancient towns along the
lower Nile. An excellent introduction to Egyptology, written by a
late nineteenth century novelist and founder of the Egyptian Exploration Society.
- William
Dampier, Voyages (2 vols). Narratives of a 17th century British
navigator and naturalist on the terrain, towns, people, and pirates he
encountered along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. Detailed maps, and
drawings of tropical flora and fauna.
- Charles Cochin and M. Bellicard,
Observations on the Antiquities of Herculaneum. The mid-18th century
rediscovery of the sister city of ancient Pompeii, buried by Vesuvius
in AD 79. Early drawings of the Roman theater, murals, sculpture, and
other finds.
Fig.2:
The first excavations at Herculaneum in the 1750s involved tunneling
beneath the amphitheater and buried buildings, looking primarily for
sculptures and other art objects. - George Dennis, Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria. (2
vols.). Early, 1840's account of the archaeology of the Etruscans,
forerunners of the Romans in Italy. Numerous site plans and
illustrations by the author.
Fig.3:
Many Etruscan tombs in the region between Rome and Tuscany
contain elaborate paintings, showing dancing and other ritual
performances of the 7th-5th centuiries BC. A
series of articles published between 1881 and 1911, describing some of
the major archaeological findings on and around the Acropolis.
A
probing analysis, using both archaeology and classical sources, of the
earliest gods and temples in Athens, including the first temples to
Athena, the Erechtheion, and the Late Archaic statues of Kore maidens.
Selected sources from 1843 onward on pottery form and decoration, and
the usage of figurative and abstract symbols.
Reports
by Alfred Bruckner and others on grave finds including pottery and
relief stelae from the
Geometric period through the Late 4th century BC.
Selected papers from 1882 onward, describing sites and monuments in Athens.
- Rodolfo Lanciani, Ancient
Rome. A guidebook to well-known finds in the Forum, Capitoline Hill,
and other central zones by one of the archaeologists involved in late
19th century excavations.
- Heinrich Schliemann, Ilios.
(1880) Description of the first large-scale excavations atTroy, the famed
city of Homer's Iliad. Hundreds of artifacts and site areas are
illustrated, including pieces of "Priam's Treasure", which reappeared in the collection of the Pushkin Museum. Schliemann's work at Troy and Myceneae established the veracity of Homer's epics.
Fig.4: Gold repousee jewelry found at Late Mycenean levels (ca. 1200-1100 BC) at the many-layered site of Troy in western Turkey. Wilhelm Dorpfeld, Troy and Ilios. (1902) Comprehensive report on the subsequent excavations at Troy in 1882-1894
by Dorpfeld, who worked with Schliemann at Mycenae, and here provides
the first accurate description of the full range of the ancient layers
at Troy, from Early Bronze Age through Roman settlements. Troy and Its Remains, by Heinrich Schliemann
(1875). The first book by Schliemann on Troy, it is written as a kind
of diary of his first two season of excavation at the site, from
1872-1873. A more informal treatment than later accounts, with many
illustrations and impressions of findings just as they occurred. - Paul
Marcoy, Travels in South America (2 vols). Highly readable accounts of
Amazonia by a 19th century French writer and botanist. Abundant maps,
illustrations, and descriptions of native villages, many witnessed for the first time.
Fig.5: Village along the Amazon River visited by Marcoy in the 1870s.
- Peter Martyr
d'Anghera, New World Chronicles (2 vols). The first written accounts of
Spanish explorations in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South
America, recorded by Peter Martyr d'Anghera, the Italian historian at
the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, who sponsored the voyages of Columbus.
Fig.6:
Early drawing of the type of ship used in Columbus's landing in 1492 at
the Taino site of San Salvador in the Caribbean Islands.
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Imagery and texts of Southport volumes will be available on line and in print.
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