Codex Nuttall

monks could make anything out of it. They had already sent it to be examined by a member of the institution known as the Propaganda FideThe Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, the Vatican department responsible for missionary work and the spread of Catholicism. in Rome. His reply had been “that the document was probably intended for the amusement of children, but was so foolish that it could only bore them.”

With the eye of a connoisseur, Signor Villari saw at a glance that the despised manuscript was of great value and interest, being an Ancient Mexican CodexA "codex" is a manuscript book; in this context, it refers to the folded screen-fold books used by the Mixtec and Aztec peoples to record history and genealogies., with occasional words inserted, as if to explain the hieroglyphicsNuttall uses this term to describe the pictorial writing system of the Mixtec, which uses symbols and icons rather than an alphabet.. Subsequently, whilst studying in the old library, Signor Villari would now and then pause at the case where the curious document was kept, to look wonderingly at its pages, covered with figures and unknown signs. He examined it with interest and attention, and begged the friar, its custodian, to guard it with the utmost care. Later, a disturbed political period supervened and the monastic orders were suppressed throughout Italy. The library of San MarcoThe Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence, famous for its frescoes by Fra Angelico and its significant Renaissance library. became the property of the state and was thrown open to the public. On revisiting the library Signor Villari made inquiries about the Mexican manuscript, but in vain, for it had vanished. He subsequently learned that it had been sold to a wealthy Englishman residing in Florence. On applying to the latter for permission to see the manuscript again, Signor Villari was informed that it was no longer in his possession, and had been given to a friend in England. “So there the matter ended,” said my host, with an expression of deep regret that Florence should have thus lost so rare a treasure, and one which had doubtlessly been preserved within its walls during centuries.

In response to my eager questioning Senator Villari, who had not seen it for over thirty years, and was not a specialist in MexicanaThe study of the history, culture, and artifacts of Mexico., described the manuscript to me, in detail, with an accuracy and distinctness which revealed his marvellous powers of observation and memory. He suggested, and we discussed, the possibility that the lost Codex might now be preserved in some museum, or even have been published. His mention of explanatory notes, written in Spanish characters, convinced me that it could not have been one of the few well-known Ancient Mexican Codices, for I knew of only one manuscript, painted on skin, which exhibits such notes; namely, the Becker CodexAlso known as Codex Becker I, this is a 15th-century Mixtec pictorial manuscript that recorded the history of the hero 8-Deer Tiger Claw; it is currently held in Vienna., now in the Imperial Ethnographical Museum at