Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan

In 1839, President Martin Van Buren sent John Lloyd Stephens as Special Ambassador to Central America.

What he found was a state of civil war, but what he found on the ground would change our view of Central American civilization forever.

Although his political mission was doomed from the beginning, Stephens spent the next two years exploring the wild jungles and wilderness of Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico, visiting and recording ancient Mayan sites.

Many of these Mayan ruins had been visited previously but it was through the explorations and writings of John Lloyd Stephens that the wider world truly became fascinated with the civilization of the Maya peoples.

Stephens records his two journeys into Mesoamerica in brilliant detail as he describes not only the beauty of ancient cities like Copán and Uxmal, along with forty-two other ancient sites, but also the trials and tribulations that he and his men faced as they cut their way through thick jungles, fought off waves of mosquitos, and avoided robberies and contracting fevers.

Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan is a remarkable work of archaeological discovery. Stephens’ book is essential reading for anyone interested in the civilizations of Central America and the archaeological remains that have left behind.

As well as recording a civilization that had long since passed, Stephens’ account provides insight into Central America and the people that lived there during the mid-nineteenth century as it was undergoing turbulent political change.

Edgar Allan Poe described Stephens’ book as “perhaps the most interesting book of travel ever published”, and his journeys have recently been the subject of a New York Times bestseller, Jungle of Stone.

John Lloyd Stephens was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. Stephens was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America. His book was published in two volumes in 1841, this edition however contains both volumes in one book. After completing this work he joined the Panama Railroad Company as Vice President but was struck down by malaria in 1852.