WHO WAS FREDERICK CATHERWOOD?

The Temple of the Inscriptions in Palenque, as depicted by Catherwood.

Frederick Catherwood's name is rarely spoken alone. His rather peculiar claim to fame derives from his association with John Lloyd Stephens, the "father of Maya archaeology," but they were a team in every sense of the word.

    Most people interested in the Maya have heard of Stephens and Catherwood; or at least of the 19th century travel book, Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan (1842) written by Stephens and illustrated by Catherwood.

    In 1839 Stephens decided to personally investigate the growing number of reports of lost civilizations in the wilds of Yucatan. He was already a well- known travel writer, and his invitation to Catherwood to join him was made to a man equally respected in his field. While Stephens wrote about the cities of antiquity, Catherwood drew them.

    Born England in 1799, Frederick Catherwood studied architecture, drawing and painting at the Royal Academy, and classical architecture and sculpture in Italy, Sicily and Greece. After completing his studies, he traveled throughout the east, making scale drawings of the antiquities of Egypt, Arabia and the Holy Land. In 1823 he was hired as an architectural consultant in the restoration of Cairo's mosques; by the late 1830s he was working for an architectural firm in America.

    Catherwood matured into a perceptive draftsman. He was in New York mounting an exhibition of his early work in 1839 when Stephens approached him with the idea of exploring the Yucatan peninsula and Central America. They already knew each other, having met three years earlier. Catherwood did not hesitate, and they set off within the year.

    The soon-to-be-famous team traveled first to Copan (Honduras) where, in order to have free-reign to work, Stephens bought the site outright for $50 U.S. dollars. Thirty miles north Catherwood discovered Quirigua while Stephens was away on business in Guatemala City. He made drawings of both sites.

    The two visited both Palenque (Chiapas, Mexico) and Uxmal (Yucatan, Mexico) before heading back to New York for the publication of their first collaborative work, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan (1841).

    Catherwood suffered from malaria in Palenque and had collapsed in Uxmal before being taken home to the States. Nevertheless, in 1842 he promptly returned with Stephens to the Yucatan to continue their reconnaissance of the region. They worked in Chichen Itza, Cozumel, Tulum, Dzilam, Izamal and Ake After seven months in the field, Catherwood was again near collapsing and they returned to New York. There they published Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan (1843), describing 44 archaeological sites.

    Stephens is credited with drawing our attention to the Maya, but it was Catherwood who furnished the proof. They were two gifted amateurs to whom the entire world owes a debt.