Frances Calderón de la Barca
Life in Mexico
$24.95, £16.95 paperback
9780520046627
Available Now
550 pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 inches, 1 map
September 1982, Available worldwide
Also in: Latin American History
September 1982, Available worldwide
Also in: Latin American History
"Published in 1843, [Life in Mexico] gives a unique and personal insight into the history, customs and manners of Mexico of that period."—Boston Globe
"The memoir of the Scottish-born Fanny Calderón de la Barca of her stay as a diplomat's wife in Mexico, published more than a century ago, is one of the most enduring, lighthearted and informative books ever written about that complicated country. Her Life in Mexico describes a nation and a people just entering their third chaotic decade of independence. . . . She was an inspired an literate gadabout and a sharp-eyed, tart-tongued critic of manners and morals. She recorded her observations with fidelity, insight and wit."—New York Times
"The picture it presents of mid-19th century Mexican life bulges with social, political, and human interest. . . . her pages ripple with heady descriptions, a sharp, but generous, eye for the idiosyncratic in person or place, and batches of informative chatter about everything from food and etiquette to rough treks out to the silver mines or a risky exploration of the beautiful cave of Cacahuamilpa. Cultured and blessed with extraordinary vivacity, Fanny's responses to the bull rings or cathedrals or state visits are always spontaneous, vivid, shrewd. A little classic."—Kirkus Reviews
"Her singular sensibilities make her, willy-nilly, the best of historians and sociologists."—Book Week
"The memoir of the Scottish-born Fanny Calderón de la Barca of her stay as a diplomat's wife in Mexico, published more than a century ago, is one of the most enduring, lighthearted and informative books ever written about that complicated country. Her Life in Mexico describes a nation and a people just entering their third chaotic decade of independence. . . . She was an inspired an literate gadabout and a sharp-eyed, tart-tongued critic of manners and morals. She recorded her observations with fidelity, insight and wit."—New York Times
"The picture it presents of mid-19th century Mexican life bulges with social, political, and human interest. . . . her pages ripple with heady descriptions, a sharp, but generous, eye for the idiosyncratic in person or place, and batches of informative chatter about everything from food and etiquette to rough treks out to the silver mines or a risky exploration of the beautiful cave of Cacahuamilpa. Cultured and blessed with extraordinary vivacity, Fanny's responses to the bull rings or cathedrals or state visits are always spontaneous, vivid, shrewd. A little classic."—Kirkus Reviews
"Her singular sensibilities make her, willy-nilly, the best of historians and sociologists."—Book Week
FROM THE INTRODUCTION:
Life in Mexico, by Fanny Calderón de la Barca, belongs to the accounts of travel and residence by foreigners which have furnished our most informative and perceptive reports on periods and countries. At their best, written by keen observers, endowed with incisive style and humor, they bring the objectivity and comparative point of view--at times the prejudices--of people bred and educated in another country. The foibles and oddities, the peculiarities of the country observed relative to others, stand out clearly as they could not in the observations of a native unless he were truly unusual. In Life in Mexico, the splendor, the misery, the political posturing and chronic instability of Mexican politics in 1839–1842 are sketched thoughtfully and incisively. So too are the luxury and crudity of a Mexican life which had not changed greatly from the eighteenth century and before which lay the immense changes of the decades to follow.
Life in Mexico, by Fanny Calderón de la Barca, belongs to the accounts of travel and residence by foreigners which have furnished our most informative and perceptive reports on periods and countries. At their best, written by keen observers, endowed with incisive style and humor, they bring the objectivity and comparative point of view--at times the prejudices--of people bred and educated in another country. The foibles and oddities, the peculiarities of the country observed relative to others, stand out clearly as they could not in the observations of a native unless he were truly unusual. In Life in Mexico, the splendor, the misery, the political posturing and chronic instability of Mexican politics in 1839–1842 are sketched thoughtfully and incisively. So too are the luxury and crudity of a Mexican life which had not changed greatly from the eighteenth century and before which lay the immense changes of the decades to follow.
Preface
Glossary
Introduction by Woodrow Borah
Letters 1-8: October to December, 1839
Letters 8-23: January to June, 1840
Letters 23-30: July to December, 1840
Letters 30-41: January to June, 1841
Letters 41-51: July to December, 1841
Letters 52-54: January to April, 1842
Glossary
Introduction by Woodrow Borah
Letters 1-8: October to December, 1839
Letters 8-23: January to June, 1840
Letters 23-30: July to December, 1840
Letters 30-41: January to June, 1841
Letters 41-51: July to December, 1841
Letters 52-54: January to April, 1842
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