Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas – A Critical Edition (Alexander von Humboldt in English) - Hardcover

Von Humboldt, Alexander

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226865061 ISBN 13: 9780226865065

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2013

Synopsis

In 1799, Alexander von Humboldt and Aime Bonpland set out to determine whether the Orinoco River connected with the Amazon. But what started as a trip to investigate a relatively minor geographical controversy became the basis of a five-year exploration throughout South America, Mexico, and Cuba. The discoveries amassed were staggering, and much of today's knowledge of tropical zoology, botany, geography, and geology can be traced back to von Humboldt's numerous records of these expeditions. One of these accounts, "Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas", firmly established von Humboldt as the founder of Mesoamerican studies. In Views of the Cordilleras, von Humboldt weaves together drawings and detailed texts to achieve multifaceted views of cultures and landscapes across the Americas. In doing so, he offers an alternative perspective on the New World, combating presumptions of its belatedness and inferiority by arguing that the "old" and the "new" world are of the same geological age. This critical edition contains a new, unabridged English translation of von Humboldt's French text, as well as annotations, a bibliography, and all sixty-nine plates from the original edition.

About this title

Review:

"Highly recommended."--J. S. Schwartz, CUNY, College of Staten Island "Choice "

"Superbly edited. . . . Kutzinski and Ette are distinguished experts on Humboldt."--James Dunkerley, Queen Mary, University of London "Latin American Studies "

"Weaving together art, science, and his readings, [Humboldt] presents multifaceted perspectives on objects, ruins, and landscapes that he encountered."--Science

"Appearing just over two hundred years after the original publication of Vues des Cordilleres in 1810, this magnificent new edition is the first ever complete English translation of the original French text, integrating all sixty-nine plates of the 'picturesque atlas' with von Humboldt's original commentary. J. Ryan Poynter's cautiously modernized translation preserves the idiosyncrasies of von Humboldt's distinctive French style, alert to its unique blending of aesthetic and scientific perceptions of the 'New World.' The edition underlies Humboldt's experimental, 'rhizomatic' project in exploring the relationship between American nature and culture, establishing a new planetary consciousness for the Romantic age. Perhaps most strikingly for the modern reader, his radical understanding of indigenous America as a world civilization lives and breathes again in our postcolonial era."

--Nigel Leask, University of Glasgow

"Beautifully translated, meticulously assembled, and densely annotated, this volume reconfirms von Humboldt's status as Europe's first naturalist of the Americas."

--Brian S. Bauer, University of Illinois at Chicago

"Von Humboldt is a towering Atlantic world figure. Here we can gauge the full range of his interests: from observations on ancient Mayan ruins and comparative calendric systems to prehistoric building techniques and breathtaking landscapes. Kutzinski and Ette offer expert appreciation of von Humboldt's genial cosmopolitanism."

--William Boelhower, Louisiana State University

About the Author:

Vera M. Kutzinski is the Martha Rivers Ingram Professor of English, professor of comparative literature, and director of the Alexander von Humboldt in English project at Vanderbilt University. Ottmar Ette is chair of romance literature at the University of Potsdam, Germany, and the author of many books on von Humboldt.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0226865061
• ISBN 13: 9780226865065
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 576