Library

"Discovering the Maya" is a record of the American explorer Stephens and the British painter Gatherwood's investigation of the Mayan civilization sites in Central America. Stephens' narration and Frederick's painting brought the West's attention to the mysterious lost civilization of the Maya for the first time, and their work became the foundation for all subsequent Mayan civilization research. In the book, Stephens vividly describes how Gatherwood drew endlessly while wearing gloves; how two people walked into the vast jungles of Central America under the guidance of a guide and a rough, error-filled hand-drawn map; how he spent fifty dollars to buy the land where the Mayan ruins of Copan are located, with the whimsical hope of transporting it intact along the river to a museum in the United States; how to obtain government support for the expedition in a country suffering from civil war. The book is accompanied by several paintings by Gartherwood, which depict this important expedition in detail.