Joan Haslip's The Crown of Mexico

Update on my other blog, Maximilian ~ Carlota, for researchers, both serious and armchair, of Mexico's Second Empire, the tumultuous period also known as the French Intervention.

The Emperor's Little Pears

Over at my other blog, Maximilian ~ Carlota, where I share research on Mexico's Second Empire, the tumultuous period also known as the French Intervention, a story from San Miguel de Allende.

Thanks to "greenfinger" at MorgueFile.com for the picture of the pears.

More anon.

Konigsdrama in Mexico by Arthur van den Elzen

Isn't this cover striking? Archduke of Austria Maximilian von Habsburg and his then fiancee, Charlotte, Princess of the Belgians, some years before they came to Mexico as Emperor and Empress. Alas, I cannot read Dutch, but I do know how to select, copy and paste, so herewith a description of this new book about Maximilian and Carlota by Arthur van den Elzen:

ARTHUR VAN DEN ELZEN :
KONINGSDRAMA IN MEXICO
ISBN: 9789059119253
Verschijningsdatum: maart 2010
Prijs: €24.95
OVER DIT BOEK:
Van 1864 tot 1867 regeerde een jong Europees koningspaar over Mexico, te weten Maximilian von Habsburg, de jongere broer van de laatste grote keizer van Oostenrijk Franz Joseph, en zijn echtgenote Charlotte, de eerste prinses van het jonge België. Vol idealen waren ze vertrokken naar hun droomzetel in de “Nieuwe Wereld”. Hun zit op Moctezuma´s troon was vanaf de start echter gedoemd te mislukken en uiteindelijk ontliepen beiden het noodlot niet. Maximilian werd na een felle eindstrijd en een showproces in het noorden van Mexico geëxecuteerd. Charlotte zou haar “Max” bijna zestig jaar overleven. Waanzinnig - zich nog altijd keizerin van Mexico wanende - sleet ze het lange resterende deel van haar leven tussen de koude muren van de kastelen rondom Brussel. Dit boek vertelt hun levensverhaal, een waargebeurd drama.

Dr. Julius Augustus Skilton and Maximilian's Portrait and Saddle

A fascinating new website now listed on my Maximilian page's links: Maximilian I Emperor of Mexico. It's about the American surgeon Dr. Julius Augustus Skilton and the upcoming auction of two items that have been handed down in his family: Maximilian's portrait and a Mexican saddle first given to Maximilian, then to Father Fischer (one of Maximilian's closest advisors) and then to Dr Skilton. You can see pictures and read all about the history of these items here. Dr Skilton was actually a Juarista. According to the website, after the U.S. Civil War, he "traveled on assignment for the New York Herald to Mexico. He is reported to have fled Mexico as he was sympathetic to the Juarez cause. In 1867 he returned to Mexico as Medical Officer and part of the escort of the Juarez family. He was also asked by the Mexican government [then the Republic under President Juarez] to exhume an examine the body of Maximilian before it was delivered to the Austrian Navy for its return to Austria." (For more about that horror show, see "La muerte del Emperador Maximiliano" por Dr. Szender Ede.) Later, in the 1870s, Dr. Skilton served as U.S. Consul General in Mexico. For anyone who wants to dig deeper, Dr. Skilton's papers are in the Rare and Manuscript Collections at the Carl A. Kroch Library at Cornell University and also the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

More anon.