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

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), 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 artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

who sought to prove that the

indigenous peoples of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

were a

Lost Tribe of Israel The ten lost tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Ashe ...

. 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 spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

ruins and

Maya civilisation The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, archit ...

. 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 a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

, of Mitchelstown Castle, County Cork. He represented

Cork County County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...

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 ''Antiquities of Mexico'' is a compilation of facsimile reproductions of Mesoamerican literature such as Maya codices, Mixtec codices, and Aztec codices as well as historical accounts and explorers' descriptions of archaeological ruins. It was asse ...

'', a collection of copies of various Mesoamerican codices, including the first complete publication of the

Dresden Codex The ''Dresden Codex'' is a Maya civilization, 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, pre ...

. 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 Historic ...

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

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

, inspiring further exploration and research by

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

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, archaeologist, and Catholic priest. He became a specialist in Mesoamerican studies, travelling extensively i ...

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, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

(1830) and myths about

mound builders A number of pre-Columbian cultures are collectively termed "Mound Builders". The term does not refer to a specific people or archaeological culture, but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks erected for an extended period of more than 5 ...

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

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

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 exposure. ...

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 The Codex Kingsborough, also known as the Codex Tepetlaoztoc, is a 16th-century Mesoamerican pictorial manuscript detailing the history of Tepetlaoztoc and abuse of the indigenous Tepetlaoztoc population by the Spanish ''encomenderos'' who took c ...

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