Physical description

Montezumas Daughter
Author: H Rider Haggard
Publisher: Longmans Green
Date: 1893
A novel in a red, hard covered book with a reinforced spine with a handwritten title, front cover has gold embossed title. Inscriptions include stickers and a stamp. It is part of the Pattison Collection.

Publication type

fiction

Inscriptions & markings

The spine has no number but it is recorded as "PAT 823 HAG"
The Paste down front end paper sticker "Warrnambool Public Library"
Front loose end paper sticker: "Corangamite Regional Library Service"
Front loose end paper stamp: "Corangamite Regional Library Service"

Summary

Montezuma’s Daughter (1893) is an epic Victorian adventure and historical fiction novel set during the sixteenth-century Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.
The story is narrated in the first person by an elderly Englishman, Thomas Wingfield, reflecting on the tumultuous journey of his youth. After his Spanish mother is murdered by his malicious cousin, Juan de Garcia, Thomas embarks on a quest for vengeance. His pursuit takes him across Europe, through a brush with the Spanish Inquisition, and onto a ship bound for the New World.
Following a shipwreck and capture, Thomas finds himself in Mexico, where he is initially slated for Aztec human sacrifice. He is ultimately spared, rises to high status among the Aztecs, and marries Princess Otomie, the daughter of Emperor Montezuma. The narrative reaches its emotional and historical peak as Thomas fights alongside the Aztecs against Hernán Cortés during the brutal siege and fall of Tenochtitlan. Prior to its book release, the novel was serialised in the British weekly newspaper The Graphic between July and November of 1893. Longmans, Green, and Co. published the official first book edition in London on November 13, 1893, printing an initial run of 10,000 copies.