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, 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, including the first complete publication of the Dresden Codex. The exorbitant cost of the reproductions, which were often hand-painted, landed him in debtors' prison. 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 and Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg 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 (1830) and myths about mound builders 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