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This book came to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Library from the now defunct Panama Canal Zone Library, one of the most important libraries in Panama during the Canal Zone era.

This beautifully illustrated monograph describes the excavation and research of an ancient Ixil Maya Indian town in a Guatemalan valley. The archeologists involved in this project describe their field work and findings with scholarly attention to detail, but also with obvious enthusiasm for their discoveries. The Discussion chapter highlights their fascination with ongoing exploration to fill in the historical blanks.

The struggle between good and evil. The battle between the sacred and the profane. These have been recurring themes in all societies and through art, populations were instructed in the principles of Christian religion. Clothing, costumes, music, and dance serve to teach people about the rules to follow as Christians. 

The Biologia Centrali-Americana is an important literary resource of Central American biodiversity. Issued between 1879 to 1915 in 215 parts, the series resulted from scientific surveys and explorations during the turn of the 20th century. The BCA is a scarce resource in Latin America research collections and became a foundation of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Library. The volumes of the BCA were primarily amassed and used in the field on the Barro Colorado Island station by researcher and benefactor Thomas Barbour.

Considered a publication of exceptional value, this thorough study of Costa Rican archaeology investigates graves and burial mounds, pottery vessels, and buildings. The author spent over a year working in the field, both on the Atlantic coast and the interior of the country. The volume is beautifully illustrated with 87 plates and over 400 text illustrations. Formerly a copy held by the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, the volume is inscribed to anthropologist “Professor F.W. Putnam, with compliments of the author.”

More than six decades before the Panama Canal, a trans-Isthmian railroad carried thousands of travelers every month between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Crossing in this manner represented a third option to people (and freight) traveling to California (recently added to U.S. territory as a result of the war with Mexico) from the eastern United States. They could now avoid the perilous voyage around the Cape of Good Hope as well as the long trek across the great plains and Rocky Mountains.

One of the best-known artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, poet, and playwright who spent most of his adult life in France. Picasso is often remembered for his cubist paintings, but he continued to experiment with new styles and materials throughout his life. During the 1950s and 1960s, Picasso commissioned Francois Hugo, great-grandson of French writer Victor Hugo, to execute a series of plates, dishes, and medallions in gold and silver. The plates were modeled after Picasso’s original ceramics designs.