Page:The Conquest of Mexico Volume 1.djvu/477



Page 60 (2).—Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., Prólogo.— Idem, Sum. Relac. MS. Writers are not agreed whether the conflagration took place in the square of Tlateloco or Tezcuco. Comp. Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 188, and Bustamente's Pref. to Ixtlixochitl, Cruautésdes Conquérans, Trad. De Ternaux, p. xvii

Page 60 (3).—It has been my lot to record both these displays of human infirmity, so humbling to the pride of intellect.—See the History of Ferdinand and Isabella, Part 2. Chap. 6.

Page 61 (1). — Very many of the documents thus painfully amassed in the archives of the Audience of Mexico, were sold, according to Bustamente, as wrapping-paper, to apothecaries shopkeepers, and rocket-makers! Boturini's noble collection has not fared much better.

Page 62 (1).—The history of this famous collection is familiar to scholars. It was sent to the Emperor Charles the Fifth, not long after the Conquest, by the Viceroy Mendoza, Marques de Mondejar. The vessel fell into the hands of a French cruiser, and the manuscript was taken to Paris. It was afterwards bought by the chaplain of the English embassy, and, coming into the possession of the antiquary Purchas, was engraved, in extenso, by him, in the third volume of his Pilgrimage. After its publication, in 1625, the Aztec original lost its importance, and fell into oblivion so completely, that, when at length the public curiosity was excited in regard to its fate, no trace of it could be discovered. Many were the speculations of scholars, at home and abroad, respecting it, and Dr. Robertson settled the question as to its existence in England, by declaring that there was no Mexican relic in that country except a golden goblet of Montezuma. — (History of America [London, 1796], vol. iii. p. 370.) Nevertheless, the identical Codex, and several other Mexican paintings, have been since discovered in the Bodleian library. The circumstance has brought some obloquy on the historian who, while prying into the collections of Vienna and the Escurial, could be so blind to those under his own eyes. The oversight will not appear so extraordinary to a thorough-bred collector, whether of manuscripts, or medals, or any other rarity. The Mendoza Codex is, after all, but a copy, coarsely done with a pen on European paper. Another copy, from which Archbishop Lorenzana engraved his tribute-rolls in Mexico, existed in Boturini's collection. A third is in the Escurial, according to the Marquis of Spineto. — (Lectures on the Elements of Hieroglyphics [London], Lect. 7.) This may possibly be the original painting. The entire Codex, copied from the Bodleian maps, with its Spanish and English interpretations, is included in the noble compilation of Lord Kingsborough.— (Vols. i., v., vi.) It is distributed into three parts; embracing the civil history of the nation, the tributes paid by the cities, and the domestic economy and discipline of the Mexicans; and, from the fulness of the interpretation, is much importance in regard to these several topics.

Page 62 (2).—It formerly belonged to the Giustiniani family; but was so little cared for, that it was suffered to fall into the mischievous hands of the domestics' children, who made sundry attempts to burn it. Fortunately it was painted on deerskin, and, though somewhat singed, was not destroyed. — (Humboldt, Vues des Cordillères, p. 89, et seq.) It is impossible to cast the eye over this brilliant assemblage of forms and colours without feeling how hopeless must be the attempt to recover a key to the Aztec mythological symbols; which are here distributed with the symmetry indeed, but in all the endless combinations of the kaleidoscope. It is in the third volume of Lord Kingsborough's work.

Page 62 (3).—Humboldt, who has copied some pages of it in his Atlas Pittoresque, intimates no doubt of its Aztec origin.—(Vues des Cordillères, pp. 266, 267.) M. Le Noir even reads in it an exposition of Mexican Mythology, with occasional analogies to that of Egypt and of Hindostan.—(Antiquités Mexicaines, tom, ii., introd.) The fantastic forms of hieroglyphic symbols may afford analogies for almost anything.

Page 62 (4).—The history of this Codex, engraved entire in the third volume of the Antiquities of Mexico, goes no further back than 1739, when it was purchased at Vienna for the Dresden library. It is made of the American agave. The figures painted on it bear little resemblance, it was sent to the Emperor Charles the Fifth, not long after the Conquest, by the Viceroy Mendoza, Marques de Mondejar. The vessel fell into the hands of a French cruiser, and the manuscript was taken to Paris. It was afterwards bought by the chaplain of the English embassy, and, coming into the possession of the antiquary Purchas, was engraved, in extenso, by him, in the third volume of his Pilgrimage. After its publication, in 1625, the Aztec original lost its importance, and fell into oblivion so completely, that, when at length the public curiosity was excited in regard to its fate, no trace of it could be discovered. Many were the speculations of scholars, at home and abroad, respecting it, and Dr. Robertson settled the question as to its existence in England, by declaring that there was no Mexican relic in that country except a golden goblet of Montezuma. — (History of America [London, 1796], vol. iii. p. 370.) Nevertheless, the identical Codex, and several other Mexican paintings, have been since discovered in the Bodleian library. The circumstance has brought some obloquy on the historian who, while prying into the collections of Vienna and the Escurial, could be so blind to those under his own eyes. The oversight will not appear so extraordinary to a thorough-bred collector, whether of manuscripts, or medals, or any other rarity. The Mendoza Codex is, after all, but a copy, coarsely done with a pen on European paper. Another copy, from which Archbishop Lorenzana engraved his tribute-rolls in Mexico, existed in Boturini's collection. A third is in the Escurial, according to the Marquis of Spineto. — (Lectures on the Elements of Hieroglyphics [London], Lect. 7.) This may possibly be the original painting. The entire Codex, copied from the Bodleian maps, with its Spanish and English interpretations, is included in the noble compilation of Lord Kingsborough.— (Vols. i., v., vi.) It is distributed into three parts; embracing the civil history of the nation, the tributes paid by the cities, and the domestic economy and discipline of the Mexicans; and, from the fulness of the interpretation, is much importance in regard to these several topics.

Page 62 (2)]].—It formerly belonged to the Giustiniani family; but was so little cared for, that it was suffered to fall into the mischievous hands of the domestics' children, who made sundry attempts to burn it. Fortunately it was painted on deerskin, and, though somewhat singed, was not destroyed. — (Humboldt, Vues des Cordillères, p. 89, et seq.) It is impossible to cast the eye over this brilliant assemblage of forms and colours without feeling how hopeless must be the attempt to recover a key to the Aztec mythological symbols; which are here distributed with the symmetry indeed, but in all the endless combinations of the kaleidoscope. It is in the third volume of Lord Kingsborough's work.

Page 62 (3)]].—Humboldt, who has copied some pages of it in his Atlas Pittoresque, intimates no doubt of its Aztec origin.—(Vues des Cordillères, pp. 266, 267.) M. Le Noir even reads in it an exposition of Mexican Mythology, with occasional analogies to that of Egypt and of Hindostan.—(Antiquités Mexicaines, tom, ii., introd.) The fantastic forms of hieroglyphic symbols may afford analogies for almost anything.

Page 62 (4)]].—The history of this Codex, engraved entire in the third volume of the Antiquities of Mexico, goes no further back than 1739, when it was purchased at Vienna for the Dresden library. It is made of the American agave. The figures painted on it bear little resemblance,