author

Philipp J. J. (Philipp Johann Josef) Valentini

1828–1899

An adventurous 19th-century explorer-scholar, he moved between Germany, Costa Rica, and New York while writing about Central American history, archaeology, and early American voyages. His work ranges from the founding of Puerto Limón to studies of the Mexican calendar stone and Palenque inscriptions.

1 Audiobook

Mexican Copper Tools: The Use of Copper by the Mexicans Before the Conquest; and the Katunes of Maya History, a Chapter in the Early History of Central America, With Special Reference to the Pio Perez Manuscript.

Mexican Copper Tools: The Use of Copper by the Mexicans Before the Conquest; and the Katunes of Maya History, a Chapter in the Early History of Central America, With Special Reference to the Pio Perez Manuscript.

by Philipp J. J. (Philipp Johann Josef) Valentini

About the author

Born in Berlin in 1828, Valentini studied in Germany before leaving for Costa Rica, where he is credited with founding Puerto Limón in 1854 under government auspices. He later earned a PhD at the University of Jena with research on the early history of Costa Rica, then spent years traveling in Central America before settling in New York.

He is best remembered as an explorer and archaeologist of Central American pre-Columbian cultures. His writings focused especially on the Mexican calendar stone, Maya history, and Palenque inscriptions, and he also published studies on Columbus and early Atlantic exploration.

Valentini was elected to the American Antiquarian Society in 1879. Surviving papers at Cornell show how deeply he worked: manuscripts, notebooks, tracings of hieroglyphs, drawings, and drafts all suggest a restless researcher trying to piece together the ancient past from many kinds of evidence.