• Borgia

  Current location: Apostolic
  Library in the Vatican, Rome

  Skin screenfold . 39 leaves (38 painted on both sides).

The Borgia Codex is the finest example of what has been identified as a group of ritual-divinatory manuscripts that appear to have common content and share similar iconographic attributes. Scholars still debate whether they are of Mixtec origin or when the come from the Aztec tribes of the Valley of Mexico.

A splendid digitized version of Page 59 of the Borgia can be found at Scriptorium, the IBM Digital Library manuscript collection. (The Scriptorium entry page is now missing, but the document is still there.) This Borgia page is about 380K of data, and well worth the wait if you're using a slow dial-up modem. The digitized photograph (which you can download directly from this link) is exquisite - compare the detail from the cover of the Dover Borgia publication found at the header of this page.

First partial publication of the Borgia was by Alexander von Humbolt in 1810. Published in Kingsborough Antiguidades de Mexico Volume III. Also published by Duc de Lubat (Ehrle), 1898.

The Codex Borgia : A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript is a Dover publication that is highly recommended. This restoration by Gisele Diaz and Alan Rodgers attempts to reconstruct missing images from the manuscript in its current condition and is an inexpensive means of getting familiar with the document. The introduction and overview by Bruce Byland is up to date and in English.

Vaticanus B Current location: Apostolic Library in the Vatican, Rome Skin screenfold. 49 leaves (48 painted on both sides).

Codex Vaticanus #3773. Published in Kingsborough Antiguidades de Mexico Volume III. First partial publication by Humbolt, 1810. Also published by Duc de Lubat with description (Paso Y Troncoso) and history (Ehrle), 1896. Also extensive commentary by Seler.

Fejervary-Mayer Current location: Free Public Museum, Liverpool, England Skin screenfold. 23 leaves (22 painted on both sides).

Pre-Conquest document. Published in Kingsborough Antiguidades de Mexico Volume III; superceded by Loubat (1901) and photographic color edition by Corona Nunez (1964-67). Seler commentary (1901a, English translation 1902-3) includes annotated line drawings. Nowotny (1961b) gives comparative exposition of all sections.

This is manuscript is well served by the commentary in the latest volume in the Codices Mexicanos series, again with an accompanying photographic facimile from Graz.