Edward King, Viscount Kingsborough (16 November 1795 – 27 February 1837) was an Irish

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

who sought to prove that the

indigenous peoples of the Americas In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

were a Lost Tribe of Israel. His principal contribution was in making available facsimiles of ancient documents and some of the earliest explorers' reports on

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

ruins and Maya civilisation. He was the eldest son of

George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (9 April 1771 – 18 October 1839), styled Viscount Kingsborough from 1797 to 1799, was an Irish nobleman. He was the son of Robert King, 2nd Earl of Kingston of Mitchelstown Castle, who he succeeded in 1799. ...

, Lord Kingsborough, the latter a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

, of Mitchelstown Castle, County Cork. He represented

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

between 1818 and 1826 as a Whig. In 1831, Lord Kingsborough published the first volume of '' Antiquities of Mexico'', a collection of copies of various

Mesoamerican codices Mesoamerican codices are manuscripts that present traits of the Mesoamerican indigenous pictoric tradition, either in content, style, or in regards to their symbolic conventions. The unambiguous presence of Mesoamerican writing systems in some of ...

, including the first complete publication of the

Dresden Codex The ''Dresden Codex'' is a Maya book, which was believed to be the oldest surviving book written in the Americas, dating to the 11th or 12th century. However, in September 2018 it was proven that the Maya Codex of Mexico, previously known as th ...

. The exorbitant cost of the reproductions, which were often hand-painted, landed him in

debtors' prison A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, Lucinda"A Histor ...

. These lavish publications represented some of the earliest published documentation of the ancient cultures of

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

, inspiring further exploration and research by

John Lloyd Stephens John Lloyd Stephens (November 28, 1805October 13, 1852) was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. He was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America (Americas), Middle America and in the planning of th ...

and

Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg Abbé Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg (8 September 1814 – 8 January 1874) was a noted French writer, ethnographer, historian, archaeology, archaeologist, and Catholic Church, Catholic priest. He became a specialist in Mesoamerican st ...

in the early 19th century. They were the product of early theories about non-indigenous origins for Native American civilisations that are also represented in the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

(1830) and myths about

mound builders Many pre-Columbian cultures in North America were collectively termed "Mound Builders", but the term has no formal meaning. It does not refer to specific people or archaeological culture but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks that in ...

of Old World ancestry in North America. In 1837, Lord Kingsborough was imprisoned at the Sheriff's Prison in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

because he was unable to pay a small debt owed to a printer. He contracted

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

while in prison following which he was released and died three weeks later on 27 February 1837, aged 41, less than two years before he would have succeeded to his title and estates, his father having been declared insane in 1830. The last two volumes of ''Antiquities of Mexico'' were published posthumously. The Codex Kingsborough is named after him.

Works

References

* * * * *Power, Bill, 'White Knights, Dark Earls, the Rise and Fall of an Anglo-Irish Dynasty,' (The Collins Press, 2000).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsborough, Edward King, Viscount 1795 births 1837 deaths Irish antiquarians Irish Mesoamericanists People from County Cork Irish people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in British detention Deaths from typhus 19th-century Mesoamericanists Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Cork constituencies (1801–1922) People imprisoned for debt Heirs apparent who never acceded British courtesy viscounts UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826