Lost City Literature

[Old Bookaroo]

​Lost City Literature

I just started reading Douglas Preston’s Lost City of the Monkey God (2017) and he discusses John Lloyd Stephens’ excellent two volume Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (1841) - “perhaps the most interesting travel book ever published” (Edgar Allen Poe).
This was followed by Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan (1843), also in two volumes - another classic. Due credit, of course, must be given to the outstanding illustrator of both works - Frederick Catherwood.

This mention got me thinking about the general literature of books about the search for lost cities. I’m going to mention a few volumes I’ve enjoyed - and I certainly hope others expand the roster. This are not fiction (at least, the authors state they are not). Lost city novels would be a interesting topic, but one I will save for another time.

There’s the much more recent, and quite good, book The Lost City of Z; A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon (all books today seem to require a title parted in the middle) by David Grann (2005). It has been mentioned several times here on TN. It is a well-told story about Percy Fawcett’s search for a lost city in the Amazon jungle.

Anyone interested in this saga should read his son Brian’s Expedition Fawcett (1958) - “praised by Graham Greene and Harold Nicolson.” Mr. Gann’s extensive bibliography doesn’t mention this book, but it does list Ruins in the Sky (1958). Perhaps that is the English edition’s title.
Peter Fleming’s (Ian’s brother) classic Brazilian Adventure (1933) must be inserted here. It is not a book about the search for a lost city. Mr. Fleming answered a newspaper advertisement seeking another gun to join an expedition with “return doubtful” (which would have made a much better title!). It was a hunt for Col. Fawcett and his expedition.

The PBS series “Secrets of the Dead” included an episode on Col. Fawcett - Lost in the Amazon. Not, strictly speaking, a book. But still worth mentioning.

Certainly one of the classics in the lost city literature genre is Hiram Bingham’s Lost City of the Incas (1948) - a firsthand account of his search of the legendary city of Vilcabamba, capital city of the last ruler of the Inca ruler. Determination and good fortune (which seem to often go hand-in-hand) Bingham found the perfectly preserved ruins of Machu Picchu perched on a cloud-capped ledge 2000 feet above the torrential Urubamba River. Unlike some of the other authors of lost cities books, Bingham actually found one!

A side note. Keep a weather eye out for copies of the April 1913 National Geographic magazine with Bingham’s “In the Wonderland of Peru.” Particularly with the map and fold-out illustrations. Early copies of the NG will bring about ten dollars - nice copies of this edition sell for over $200.

The White Rock; An Exploration of the Inca Heartland by Hugh Thomson (2003) - there’s that bifurcated title again! - has been in my “to read” pile for some time. I can’t comment on it beyond mentioning it here. Perhaps other TN members have made the time to read it and can offer an informed opinion.

Finally, there is the charming Quest for the Lost City by Dana and Ginger Lamb (1951), describing their explorations in Mexico. They made a film of their hunt - which may have influenced their claims of discovery. It wouldn’t be the first time - or the last. This book is an interesting artifact from the 1940’s, when adventure travel could be a mom and pop affair. I suppose that it could still be today, but it’s doubtful a book describing it would receive the notoriety this one got.

Actually, that shouldn’t be “finally.” Because, as mentioned above, I encourage other TN to add their favorites to the list. The best TN threads have long responses, and I certainly hope this is one of them!

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo, CM

 

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[ECS]

Douglas Preston was feature on a segment of CBS SUNDAY MORNING several weeks ago discussing his book while traveling to the site in the Yucatan jungle.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Just found this while looking up something else:

"At first blush, the most convincing argument is to found in a book published in 1843,Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan, written by an American explorer. This was John L. Stephens, who had hacked through Mayan jungles in the Yucatan for some time before the publication date. The objective of his travel had nothing to do with pirates in general and certainly not Lafitte particularly, and it is for this reason that evidence that Stephens gave might be considered trustworthy. In short, he had no axe to grind.

"Stephens reported that the Isle of Mugeres had been the home of the pirate Lafitte, known locally as Monsieur Lafitta, where he was well respected by the townspeople. In the area, he met a local patron who had been a 'prisoner' of Lafitte for two years. It was suspected that he actually had served with him in his piracies, as he was certainly fond of his memory. He told Stephens that Lafitte had died 'in his arms, and that the widow, a senora del Norte from Mobile, was then living in great distress in Silan.'

"After journeying to Silan, Stephens sought out the local padre, who did not know whether Lafitte 'was buried in the campo santo or the church, but supposed that, as Lafitte was a distinguished man, it was the latter.' But the grave was not found in the church, and so the padre inquired of some of the locals who had been there at the time of Lafitte’s burial. It is here that Stephens’ testimony, while believable, curiously lends to the possibility that Lafitte may have mysteriously vanished. It is therefore in order to quote directly the passage: 'The sexton who officiated at the burial was dead; the padre sent for several of the inhabitants, but a cloud hung over the memory of the pirate: all knew of his death and burial, but none knew or cared to tell [italics by this author] where he was laid.'

"And so a new question arises out to Stephens, and causes one to ponder whether Lafitte’s death and burial may have been faked, thus allowing him to continue his life elsewhere without notoriety.

"Why must a reader allow for the possibility of such a death being feigned? Lafitte had returned to piracy after New Orleans, thus voiding his pardon. He organized a large band at what is now Galveston in 1817, but two years later, Congress enacted laws making a capital offense of piracy. Called the 'beginning of a crackdown,' fourteen men were sentenced accordingly under the terms of the act of Congress (Louisiana, Yesterday and Today, Walter J. Cowan). Lafitte left Galveston as a consequence of attacks made by some of his pirates against U.S. ships. As he was no longer welcome there, he burned his village and went to Yucatan. He was then hunted by both American and Spanish officials."

The Pirate House and Jean Lafitte - Hancock County Historical Society


Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo, CM

 

[sdcfia]

Here's another great, great read https://smile.amazon.com/Rivers-Ran...-2&keywords=the+rivers+ran+east+leonard+clark

 

[Old Bookaroo]

sdcfia:

Thank you! Stan Gritz at one point had quite an excerpt from that book posted on his website (without attribution or apparent permission from the copyright holder).

I'm still reading Lost City of the Monkey God and it is quite interesting!

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo, CM

 

[sdcfia]

Here's another report of a South American expedition. I was skeptical at first, but an acquaintance whose opinion I trust recommended it, and it was extremely intriguing.

https://smile.amazon.com/Tayos-Gold...os+gold+the+archives+of+atlantis+by+stan+hall