PjSEFACE. V 



include the names of workers in Mexico north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and of 

 those who have done so much excellent work in the reproduction of ancient Indian 

 codices and records as well as in their study and elucidation. 



In the Introduction I ventured to express a hope that I might be able to make a 

 careful comparison of the monuments and inscriptions of the same locality, one with 

 the other, and then a further comparison between the different groups of ruins : this I 

 have not been able to do, and I did not at the time appreciate the magnitude of the 

 task and the prolonged study necessary for its satisfactory accomplishment. It has, 

 however, to some extent been accomplished in the much-criticised Appendix prepared 

 by my friend Mr. J. T. Goodman. This is not the place to uphold the merits of 

 Mr. Goodman's work, but I think that the continual use made of his calendars by 

 students of the inscriptions will reconcile him to any exception taken to some of his 

 theories. 



Before closing these lines I wish to offer my thanks to Gorgonio Lopez and his 

 brothers, my faithful assistants and friends, who accompanied me on all but one of my 

 journeys ; and to Mr. Giuntini, who spent two winters with me in the forests, and did 

 most excellent work under very trying conditions, and has since then made all the 

 casts which are stored in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and also the duplicate casts 

 of the more important pieces which the generosity of the Duke de Loubat secured for 

 the Trocadero Museum in Paris and the Natural History Museum of New York, where 

 they are now exhibited. 



I am indebted to Mr. E. Lambert, who made some of the first drawings from 

 the casts, when the style of work was unfamiliar and consequently presented many 

 difficulties. Above all, I wish to tender my grateful thanks to Miss Annie Hunter. To 

 students of the inscriptions and sculptures her clever delineation of the carvings will 

 need no further commendation ; but I gladly welcome this opportunity of acknowledging 

 the inestimable value of her intelligent and untiring assistance during the eighteen 

 years this work has been in progress. 



