Template:Featured text

Grab a download!

The Myths of Mexico and Peru (1913) is a book by British academic Lewis Spence. His book introduced the history, culture, and mythologies of pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas to a general English-speaking audience.

IN recent years a reawakening has taken place in the study of American archæology and antiquities, owing chiefly to the labours of a band of scholars in the United States and a few enthusiasts in the continent of Europe. For the greater part of the nineteenth century it appeared as if the last word had been written upon Mexican archæology. The lack of excavations and exploration had cramped the outlook of scholars, and there was nothing for them to work upon save what had been done in this respect before their own time. The writers on Central America who lived in the third quarter of the last century relied on the travels of Stephens and Norman, and never appeared to consider it essential that the country or the antiquities in which they specialised should be examined anew, or that fresh expeditions should be equipped to discover whether still further monuments existed relating to the ancient peoples who raised the teocallis of Mexico and the huacas of Peru. True, the middle of the century was not altogether without its Americanist explorers, but the researches of these were performed in a manner so perfunctory that but few additions to the science resulted from their labours. . . .

It is usual to speak of America as "a continent without a history." The folly of such a statement is extreme. For centuries prior to European occupation Central America was the seat of civilisations boasting a history and a semi-historical mythology second to none in richness and interest. It is only because the sources of that history are unknown to the general reader that such assurance upon the lack of it exists.

(Read on...)

or see all featured texts.

Template documentation[view] [edit] [history] [purge]

Usage

This template is designed to automatically switch between chosen works depending on the month. There is no requirement to edit this template, chosen texts should be added to the respective files (as the month) displayed below, and these files will be transcluded into place.

Default format for each page

<!--

-->{{featured download|**pagename**}}<!--

-->''"'''[[**pagename**]]'''" 
(**short introductory statement**) [[Author:**name**|]].''
(**Summary statement about work**)

[[File:**selected image name**.jpg|150px|right]] <!--80px if portrait-->
<div style="margin-left: 2em; font-size: 0.88em;">
(**snippet of starting text of work**)
</div>
:('''[[**pagename**|Read on...]]''')

Note that each of these files is protected.

Checklist

pagename (in download template, in lead link, in "read more")
author name
introductory statement of work
summary statement about work
selected snippet
image link, and set portrait or landscape

Please check all the links work including the "grab a download" link

Template:Featured text

Contents

Usage

Default format for each page

Checklist

See also