Codex Nuttall

published in 1849, describes and illustrates the “Materials for Writing, Early Writing on Tablets, Stones, rolled and other manuscripts, Books and Oriental manuscripts, in the library of the Hon. Robert Curzon.” It was in these surroundings that, during one-third of a century, the CodexA manuscript book, particularly the ancient screen-fold books of Mesoamerica. remained undisturbed and so lost to view that not even a rumor of its existence reached the outer world. It is undoubtedly to this circumstance that the Codex owes the freshness and brilliancy of its coloring and the fact that it is in a more perfect state of preservation than any other known manuscript of its kind. At the death of the Hon. Robert Curzon, in 1873, the Codex became the property of his son, Robert Nathaniel Cecil George Curzon, Baron Zouche of Harynworth, the present and 15th Lord Zouche, from whom, through the kind mediatorship of Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, a British order of chivalry. the distinguished Director of the British Museum, I obtained permission, not only to study, but also to publish the valuable document, in order to place it within the reach of my fellow-students.

It was in June, 1898, at the British Museum, that the long sought for Codex was finally laid into my hands, for inspection, by its custodian, Sir Edward Maunde Thompson. As I eagerly scanned its pages, I found that, whereas the explanatory notes did not fulfill my hopes and expectations, the Codex itself far surpassed them. I soon realized that it was the most superb example of an Ancient Mexican historical manuscript I had ever seen, which, in wealth of detail and interest even excelled its sister, the Vienna CodexAnother famous Mixtec pictorial manuscript held in the Austrian National Library.. For reasons which are explained on page 11, I was naturally much impressed at finding that the first year date recorded in the Codex was 1 AcatlOriginal: "1 Acatl." Nahuatl for "1 Reed," a significant date often associated with the god Quetzalcoatl., accompanied by the sign 1 cipactliOriginal: "1 cipactli." Nahuatl for "1 Crocodile" or "Earth Monster," the first day of the 260-day ritual calendar.. In order to afford me the desired opportunity of studying it during my stay in Oxford, the Codex was subsequently transferred, temporarily, to the Bodleian Library and deposited there for my particular use. It was within the venerable walls of the most beautiful of old libraries, that I had the pleasure of showing the newly found treasure to Mr. Charles P. Bowditch of Boston, a member of the Faculty of the Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology. With characteristic enthusiasm and generosity, Mr. Bowditch volunteered to provide the necessary funds for publishing the Codex, in facsimileAn exact reproduction that mimics the appearance and scale of the original manuscript., through the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, while I offered to assume the responsibility and work of carrying out the publication. Soon afterward, at the