Books

BOOKS ON MÉXICO

Below is a list of books consulted in writing the musicalised version of The Mapmaker’s Opera by Béa Gonzalez.

Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan

Stephens, John Lloyd, Catherwood, Frederick. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vols. I and II . New York: Cosimo.
In this classic work, originally published in 1847, John Lloyd Stevens records the second of his historic trips through the Yucatan peninsula. Stevens and his companion, English artist Frederick Catherwood, almost single-handedly brought the news of the pre-conquest Mayan civilization to readers the world over, touching off a century and a half of archeological discovery. The book has a detailed description of the town layout of Mérida about 60 years before the period of the novel (and the Musical) – close enough! Disclaimer: it’s a dense read, but the illustrations are great.

An Archaeological Guide to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula

Kelly, Joyce. An Archaeological Guide to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula . Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
The Yucatan peninsula is covered with at least 150 known sites, of which only a few of the ruins have been uncovered. The book is amply enriched with illustrations, diagrams and photographs to help you understand the significance of the Yucatan’s often, inscrutable buildings and structures of the Mayan people.

Barbrous Mexico by John Kenneth Turner, 1969.
Out-of-Print. Béa gave me her copy that she had used in the research of writing The Mapmaker’s Opera. Only for those of you really committed to reading about the historical and social landscape of the period – it’s a stomach churner. Not for children.