THE POPOL VUH

myths are as worthless as the priceless materials he unearthed are valuable) lamented, in a letter to the Duke of Valmy original: "Duc de Valmy",* the supposed loss of the "Popol Vuh" The title is often translated from K'iche' as "The Book of the People" or "The Council Book.", which he was aware had been made use of early in the nineteenth century by a certain Don Felix Cabrera. Dr. C. Scherzer, an Austrian scholar, thus made aware of its value, paid a visit to the Republic of Guatemala in 1854 or 1855, and was successful in tracing the missing manuscript in the library of the University of San Carlos in the city of Guatemala. It was afterwards discovered that its commentator original: "scholiast," referring to one who writes explanatory notes or scholia., Ximenes, had deposited it in the library of his monastery original: "convent." In historical contexts, "convent" often referred to any religious house, including those for men (friars). at Chichicastenango, from where it passed to the San Carlos library in 1830.

Scherzer at once made a copy of the Spanish translation of the manuscript, which he published at Vienna in 1856 under the title of "The Histories of the origin of the Indians of Guatemala, by the Reverend Father Friar Francisco Ximenes." original: "Las Historias del origen de los Indios de Guatemala, par el R. P. F. Francisco Ximenes." The Abbé Brasseur Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg was a French priest and historian who became a pioneer in the study of Mesoamerican history. also took a copy of the original, which he published at Paris in 1861, with the title "Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the K'iche's, and the Myths of American Antiquity." original: "Vuh Popol: Le Livre Sacré de Quichés, et les Mythes de l'Antiquité Américaine." In this work the K'iche' original and the Abbé's French translation are set forth side by side. Unfortunately both the Spanish and the French translations leave much to be desired so far as their accuracy is concerned,