Velasquez, Pedro
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym of the unidentified author – possibly a carnival showman named Walter J Morris (? -? ) – of a short hoax Lost Race tale, Memoir of an Eventful Expedition in Central America: Resulting in the Discovery of the Idolatrous City of Iximaya [for full title see Checklist below] (1850 chap), describing an expedition to the state of Chiapas, Mexico, where a vast City is found, inhabited by descendants the Assyrian empire. The intruders abscond with two dwarf children, who are brought to America and the UK, where they are exhibited, as in real life happened to a brother and sister named Maximo and Bartolo.
The backstory given in Memoir is of course false; the text was distributed to advertise the show. For some time it was widely thought to be factual. The siblings may have survived until 1900 or so. [JC]
"Pedro Velasquez"
born
works (selected vts only)
- Memoir of an Eventful Expedition in Central America: Resulting in the Discovery of the Idolatrous City of Iximaya, in an Unexplored Region, and the Possession of Two Remarkable Aztec Children, Descendants and Specimens of the Sacerdotal Caste (Now Nearly Extinct) of the Ancient Aztec Founders of the Ruined Temples of that Country, Described by John L Stevens, Esq, and Other Travellers (New York: J W Bell, 1850) [novella: chap: pb/]
- Illustrated Memoir of an Eventful Expedition in Central America: Resulting in the Discovery of the Idolatrous City of Iximaya, in an Unexplored Region, and the Possession of Two Remarkable Aztec Children, Maximo, Descendants and Specimens of the Sacerdotal Caste (Now Nearly Extinct) of the Ancient Aztec Founders of the Ruined Temples of that Country (London: R S Francis, 1853) as by John Lloyd Stephens [vt of the above: pb/]
- Illustrated Memoir of an Eventful Expedition in Central America: Resulting in the Discovery of the Idolatrous City of Iximaya, in an Unexplored Region, and the Possession of Two Remarkable Aztec Children, Maximo (the Boy), and Bartola (the Girl), Descendants and Specimens of the Sacerdotal Caste (Now Nearly Extinct) of the Ancient Aztec Founders of the Ruined Temples of that Country (New York: Barnum's American Museum, 1860) [vt of the above: pb/]
about the author
- Raymond John Howgego. Encyclopedia of Exploration: Invented and Apocryphal Narratives of Travel: A Comprehensive Guide to Invented, Imaginary, Apocryphal and Plagiarized Narratives of Travel by Land, Sea and Air, from the Earliest Times to the Twentieth Century (Potts Point, New South Wales: Hordern House Rare Books, 2013) [nonfiction: p467-469: hb/from J M W Turner]
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