HOW THE CODEX WAS BROUGHT TO LIGHT

IT was during an informal reception at Casa Villari in Florence, some years ago, that I first learned of the existence of the Ancient Mexican CodexReferring to the pictorial manuscript now known as the Codex Nuttall, a Mixtec historical document from pre-Columbian Mexico., the facsimileA faithful reproduction or copy of an original manuscript. of which I now have the pleasure of presenting to the literary and scientific world.

With his characteristic kindliness and interest in all historical research, an inquiry as to the progress of my work in the Florentine libraries was addressed me by my host, Pasquale VillariPasquale Villari (1827–1917) was a prominent Italian historian and politician who served as the Minister of Public Instruction., Senator and Ex-Minister of Public Instruction, Professor and Historian, whose works on Savonarola and MachiavelliGirolamo Savonarola was a 15th-century Dominican friar and reformer; Niccolò Machiavelli was a famous Renaissance political philosopher. Both are central figures in the history of Florence. are universally known.

The subject of old manuscripts was one of paramount interest to us both. We were soon deep in a discussion of the marvellous wealth of Florentine libraries, in one of which, the Mediceo-Laurentian LibraryThe Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence, famous for its architecture by Michelangelo and its massive collection of Medici family manuscripts., the original manuscript of the most valuable work in existence on Ancient Mexico, by Friar Bernardino de SahagunA Franciscan missionary (1499–1590) who compiled the "Florentine Codex," a massive encyclopedia of Aztec culture and history., was preserved. In another, the Biblioteca Nazionale CentraleThe National Central Library of Florence., I had just discovered an important Hispano-Mexican manuscript.

At this juncture, Senator Villari communicated some facts to me which aroused my keenest interest and made an indelible impression upon my memory.¹ He told me that, more than thirty years previously, he had spent some time examining and studying historical documents preserved in the Library of the Monastery of San MarcoA former Dominican monastery in Florence, now a museum, historically significant as the home of Fra Angelico and the center of Savonarola's influence., around which cluster so many memories of Fra Angelico and Fra SavonarolaFra Angelico was a renowned early Renaissance painter who decorated the monastery with frescoes.. It was by chance that, about this time, Signor Villari first became acquainted with an ancient Mexican Codex. One of the friars of San Marco brought it to a salon frequented by Florentine litteratiA term for scholarly or well-educated people interested in literature. and scholars, in order to obtain an opinion about it. He asked Pasquale Villari, the future historian, whether he could understand and explain the curious manuscript. The friar stated that neither he nor the other

¹ At my request, Professor Villari has since sent me a written account, from which I quote, verbatim, the above facts concerning the Codex. I have deposited his communication at the Peabody Museum, considering it of great importance, as it constitutes the only forthcoming documentary evidence and proof that the Codex once belonged to the San Marco Library.