8 PREFATORY NOTE. g^'j 



REAU OP 

 HNOLOGY 



or secreted and lost. Diego de Landa, the second bishop of Yucatan, 

 alone burned 27 aboriginal codices among other articles relating to the 

 early condition of the Mayas. A few of these Invaluable records are 

 said to remain in private possession, and a very few, preserved in pub- 

 lic institutions, are accessible to students. 



The accessible codices are formed of a peculiar paper made by macer- 

 ating the leaves of the maguey (or century plant) and beating or felt- 

 ing the fiber and afterward sizing with a white varnish. Each codex 

 consists of a long sheet, folded backward and forward like a screen or 

 map, or like the ordinary Japanese book; but, unlike the Oriental 

 books, both sides of the paper were used and the sheet was not bound 

 save by attaching boards to the outer folds as in dissected maps. The 

 records comprise figures and characters inscribed or painted in bril- 

 liant colors, forming chronicles much like the books of Chilan Balam. 



Probably by reason of the proscription of the codices, the few that 

 reached Europe seem to have been conveyed surreptitiously in private 

 hands and to have found their way, accidentally and unnoted, into 

 libraries and museums where three, four, or five of them were subse- 

 quently discovered by appreciative students. These are as follows: 



1. The Dresden codex, preserved in the Eoyal Library at Dresden. 

 It comprises 39 leaves, of which 35 are inscribed on both sides and 4 

 on one side only. Although existing in two unequal parts, this codex 

 was long regarded as a unit; but Forstemann gives strong reasons for 

 considering each part a separate document, either complete in itself or 

 a portion of a distinct book. This codex is reproduced in Lord Kings- 

 borough's work, and was photographed in colors by Forstemann iu 

 1880. It is chiefly from this codex, or from the principal part if there 

 are two, that Dr. Thomas's conclusions are drawn. 



2. The Codex Troano, named from its possessor, Don Juan de Tro y 

 Ortolano of Madrid. It comprises 35 leaves or 70 pages, and is probably 

 incomplete. It was reproduced by chromolithography in Paris under 

 the direction of the Abbe Brasseur (de Bourbourg) in 1869. 



3. The Codex Cortesianus, named from the family of the conqueror, 

 which is by some supposed to be a second part of the Codex Troano. 

 It is preserved in the Eoyal Archeologic Museum of Madrid. This 

 codex was reproduced by photography in Paris in 1883, and another 

 edition, in colors, has recently been published. 



4. The Codex Peresiauus, of the Bibliotheque Rationale, Paris, named 

 by Rosny from an inscription including the word '' Perez," which ac- 

 companied the document and which is supposed to be the name of a 

 former owner. This is merely a fragment, comprising 11 leaves or 22 pages. 

 A reproduction of this codex also has been published. The inscription 

 is highly artistic. 



In addition to the codices and the books of Chilan Balam, autographic 

 records of the Maya arc found in mural inscriptions and sculptures, 



