183 



Some authors* have asserted, that the ori- 

 ginal of the celebrated collection of Mendoza 

 was preserved in the royal library at Paris ; but 

 it seems certain, that for a century past this 

 library has contained no Mexican manuscript. 

 How should the collection purchased by 

 Hakluyt, and carried to England, have been 

 brought back to France ? We know at present of 

 no other Mexican paintings at Paris than some 

 copies contained in a Spanish manuscript, which 

 came from the library of Tellier, and of which 

 we shall have occasion to speak hereafter. This 

 book, highly interesting in other respects, is 

 preserved in the superb collection of manuscripts 

 in the public library at Paris. It resembles 

 the Codex anonymus of the Vatican, N. 3738, 

 which is the work of the monk Pedro de los 

 Riosf. Kircher has copied a part of the en- 

 graving of Purchas %. 



The collection of Mendoza throws light over 

 the history, political state, and domestic life of 

 the Mexicans. It is divided into three sections ; 

 which, like the skandhas of the Hindoo Puranas, 

 treat of subjects altogether different. The first 

 section gives the history of the Azteck dynasty 



• "Warburton, Essay on Hieroglyphicks, vol. 1, p. 18. 

 Papillon, Histoire de la Gravure en Bois, torn. 1, p, 364. 

 f See above the description of PI. 7. 

 X Kircheri (Edipus, vol. 3, p. 32. 



