Blue Lakes and Silver Cities: The Colonial Arts and Architecture of West Mexico [Paperback]

Richard D. Perry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 1997

Join Dick Perry for a memorable journey through Spanish colonial West Mexico. Starting in Michoacán, he explores the Tarascan highlands, Lake Pátzcuaro, Morelia, colonial Guadalajara, and the silver cities of Guanajuato state, including San Miguel de Allende. Finally, the author accompanies the reader to the opulent viceregal city of Querétaro. In addition to describing important monuments and works of art, this book is a visual feast with over 200 line drawings by the author. This large-format guide is ideal for the traveler and is also an indispensable reference book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Blue Lakes & Silver Cities is superb. Fine drawings and helpful maps. -- Professor James Early SMU

Covering Western Mexico from Michoacan to Queretaro, this (guidebook) is the best historical and descriptive guide available... -- Choice

Well written with a readable style appropriate for the layman but with something of interest for those who may be more knowledgeable. -- Latin American Antiquity

From the Publisher

Published by Espadaa Press Distributed by University of New Mexico Press

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Espadaña Press; 1st edition (December 31, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962081132
• ISBN-13: 978-0962081132
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,420,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A marvellous illustrated guide to colonial treasures., January 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blue Lakes and Silver Cities: The Colonial Arts and Architecture of West Mexico (Paperback)

Blue Lakes and Silver Cities is an engagingly-written, large-format account of the most outstanding colonial architecture and treasures in Western Mexico, illustrated with over 200 original line drawings by the author. This is Richard Perry's fourth book in a series capturing the unique quality of Mexico's colonial architecture and the best yet! I know personally most of the places Perry describes and cannot believe that anyone is likely to improve substantially on his painstaking research and attention to detail in a very long time. There is virtually nothing else in English on this topic. A wonderful achievement and a fascinating read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superlative guide and work of devotion, February 23, 2001

By 

"mexicanwave" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue Lakes and Silver Cities: The Colonial Arts and Architecture of West Mexico (Paperback)

As a frequent visitor to many of the towns and cities covered in this guide, I thought that I knew a good deal about their history. Not so.

This is Richard Perry's fourth book in a series of illustrated regional guidebooks from the Espadaña Press capturing the unique quality of Mexico's colonial architecture. In 'Blue Lakes' we accompany the author on a winding journey across a broad swathe of west central Mexico that includes the states of Michoacán, Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Querétaro.

We are first introduced to some of the key historical figures of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, such as Bishop Vasco de Quiroga and a small group of architects whose names become more familiar as we encounter their work through 272 pages.

Special attention is given to the major colonial centres such as Pátzcuaro, Morelia, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Querétaro, and San Miguel de Allende, with observations that will enrich any walking tour. The surrounding landscape is also dotted with colonial gems, many of them given little distinction or ignored completely in many guides. Here, less well-known towns ("off the beaten track") are equally well accounted for, and there is a welcome chapter on the missions of the Sierra Gorda in the state of Querétaro. The scope of this large format paperback is comprehensive, and the text is accessible, engaging and peppered with fascinating and sometimes surprising details. But what makes this guide special are the author's own precise line drawings that compliment the absorbing text - more than 200 of them in all. Thus not only does Richard Perry deliver us a fine piece of travel writing but his architectural drawings make their subjects far more vivid than the photos in most conventional guidebooks - in short he is the perfect guide and the book, an excellent companion to any journey to Mexico's colonial heartland.

As well as being ideal for those intending to spend a week or two in the region on a cultural holiday, if you are more knowledgeable about the colonial treasures of central Mexico, then this also becomes an indispensable reference book. I myself was very grateful for the two-page glossary at the back.

On my visits to Mexico I'm inclined to head straight for the nearest market to get my senses bombarded with colour and exotic aromas - or perhaps I might get diverted by a craft shop. Reading this guide, I've made myself a promise: to willingly retrace my steps; where before I skipped passed a church, 'looking but not seeing' (or being able to interpret) a splendid carved facade or nipped inside but missed a mural or ornate altar, in future I will pay more attention, ponder where before I would have barely paused, and generally be more open and receptive to this important chapter in Mexico's rich history.

Thank you Richard Perry. Highly recommended.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Eclisiastical architecture of a region of Mexico, July 14, 2001

By 

Mark Goldschmidt (Altadena, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue Lakes and Silver Cities: The Colonial Arts and Architecture of West Mexico (Paperback)

The title is somewhat misleading. This is a guide book, a tour of four Mexican states that focuses almost exclusively on eclisiastical buildings. Useful if you are interested in architecture and are touring in Michoacan, Jalisco, Guanajuatao, and Quertaro. Line drawings are nice, obviously drawn off of photos.

The book is large in format (so a bit awkward to travel with) and the design of the book is mediocre -- headline fonts are quite unattractive.

I would only recommend this book to those with a deep interest in religious architecture and architectural decoration in Mexico.