Catalogue de la Collection Archéologique Provenant des Fouilles et Explorations

This rare catalogue of an exhibition in Paris in 1883 – held by only six libraries in the U.S. – provides descriptions and brief historical explanations of 102 antiquities from Mexico and the Yucatan that famed French archaeologist Désiré Charnay (1828-1915) acquired during an expedition of 1880-1882, including plans of newly discovered Toltec palaces, Aztec statues and funeral urns, and bas-reliefs found in Yucatan villages. It relates directly to studies on pre-historic Meso-American artifacts (including the so-called "crystal skulls") by anthropologists at the Smithsonian and is of particular interest since Charnay worked and collected at the archeological site of Teotihuacan where current research is focused on the lapidary technology of pre-Columbian cultures.