Release date is 2026-02-06

Peter Becker and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

"Mexico in den ereignißvollen Jahren 1832 und 1833" by Carl Christian Becher is a historical travel account in epistolary form written in the early 19th century. Drawing on letters to family and friends, it follows a Prussian commercial envoy from Europe to Mexico during a volatile post-independence phase, blending on-the-ground observation of politics and society with the practicalities of travel and trade. An appended section promises official reports on recent Mexican measures and concise mercantile-statistical notes. The work is aimed at informing and encouraging a German readership—especially merchants—about Mexico’s conditions, resources, and prospects.

The opening of the work presents a dedication to a Prussian statesman, a preface explaining the decision to publish private letters and add official updates and trade statistics, and a detailed table of contents mapping the journey and the political flashpoints to come. The narrative then begins with departure from the Rhineland through Paris and Bordeaux, including a lively Paris vignette (opera, ex-sovereigns, a visit with Humboldt), and embarkation on a French packet. Life at sea is portrayed with storms, doldrums, a sailors’ “baptism” at the tropics, and a brief, vivid shore stop at Mole St. Nicolas on Hayti, where the author depicts uniforms, markets, households, racial gradations, cleanliness, commerce in English cottons, and remnants of a German colony. Near the Gulf of Mexico he recounts a tense night approach by a suspicious boat, then sights the snow-capped Orizaba before a norther forces the ship back. Arrival off Veracruz brings an unexpected cholera quarantine, followed by first impressions of the harbor, the mixed populace shuttling between the fort and city, and practical notes on the healthy season versus the dangerous months of the vomito. The section closes with early days in Veracruz, market scenes, and plans to head inland just as signs of political upheaval appear. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: Hamburg: Perthes & Besser, 1834