Lost Cities of the Maya

Lost Cities of the Maya
	First French edition. The cover featuring El Castillo of Tulum, lithograph by Frederick Catherwood, 1844.
Author	Claude-François Baudez; Sydney Picasso
Original title	Les cités perdues des Mayas
Translator	Caroline Palmer
Cover artist	Frederick Catherwood
Language	French
Series	Découvertes Gallimard●Archéologie (FR); Abrams Discoveries (US); New Horizons (UK);
Release number	20th in collection
Subject	Maya archaeology
Genre	Nonfiction monograph
Publisher	Éditions Gallimard (FR); Harry N. Abrams (US); Thames & Hudson (UK);
Publication date	4 December 1987; 23 October 2008 (new ed.)
Publication place	France
Published in English	1992
Media type	Print (paperback)
Pages	176 pp.
ISBN	978-2-0705-3035-9 (first edition)
OCLC	798831222
Preceded by	Les fossiles, empreinte des mondes disparus
Followed by	Sur des mers inconnues : Bougainville, Cook, Lapérouse

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

Introduction

As part of the Archéologie series in the "Découvertes Gallimard" collection, the authors recount in the book the rediscovery of Maya civilization, and the study of archaeological sites, objects and documents discovered in the region, from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the twentieth century.

According to the tradition of "Découvertes", which is based on an abundant pictorial documentation and a way of bringing together visual documents and texts, enhanced by printing on coated paper, as commented in L'Express, "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", were gathered for this book.^[4] It's almost like a "graphic novel", replete with colour plates.

Chapter I: "Conquistadors and Missionaries" (pp. 13–29);
Chapter II: "Artists and Adventurers" (pp. 31–55);
Chapter III: "The Age of the Scholars" (pp. 57–81);
Chapter IV: "The Photographer-explorers" (pp. 83–99);
Chapter V: "Symbols in Stone" (pp. 101–115);
Chapter 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:

Insights of the First Travelers (pp. 130–135);
Explorers Rediscover a Lost World (pp. 136–145);
Cracking the Code (pp. 146–155);
The Quiché Maya's Book of Counsel (pp. 156–159);
Ancient Maya, Modern Maya (pp. 160–167).

Further Reading (p. 168);
List of Illustrations (pp. 169–172);
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, the book was adapted into a documentary film of the same name. A co-production between La Sept-Arte and Trans Europe Film, with the collaboration of Éditions Gallimard, the film was 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]