The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript

by Alan Rodgers and Gisele Díaz

Book Overview

Considered by many scholars the finest extant Mexican codex and one of the most important original sources for the study of pre-Columbian religion, the Codex Borgia is a work of profound beauty, filled with strange and evocative images related to calendrical, cosmological, ritual, and divinatory matters. Generally similar to such Mixtec manuscripts as the Codex Nuttall , the Codex Borgia is thought to have its origin (ca. A.D. 1400) in the southern...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486275698
• ISBN13: 9780486275697
• Release Date: June 1993
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.2" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

I love it

This book is beautiful

The Other 5 Star Reviews are Right

I will not go over their 5 star comments except to say that I agree. The amazingly colourful and crisp art in this short book is rivetting. As much as one may credit the reknowned author, deep congratulations should also go to the publisher for a masterful print job.

A Gem

This is a very strange and beautiful book in pictures. It reads like a dream if you tune in to it, and reveals very deep meanings about the relation between life and death, the human relation to the forces of nature, and time. Even though there are no words, it is possible to understand. If you get into it the symbols become more and more recognizable, and they begin to speak. the calendrical symbols and the spirit deities are completely recognizable. The sequences are all about times, and there is a big element about sacrifice. It has to do with the consequences of change; there is no life without death. The book has a very powerful image of life and death fused back to back that pretty much is the epitome of all the book is about. It's all about life and death in relation to time.

Excellent, and at this price...

This is a wonderful resouce for those interested in ancient Mexico. Full photographic facsimilies of these codices are hideously expensive, and really, most are not in great shape. After extensive research, we have here a great reproduction of what this important work looked like when it was "fresh off the presses." It is beautiful, and in comparison to Dover's similar Codex Nuttall, this work comes with a MUCH better introduction that explains more of the text, the context, and the ideology. Readers will be able to better understand some of the religious principles of the ancient Mexicans (and there is some debate whether this book was painted by Aztecs or Mixtecs, which I won't bore you with!). It shows gods, ceremonies, the calender, and other religious iconography which is interesting, and would be a revelation for more the artisticly inclined. The visuals are wonderfully presented and all in all this is an astonishing bargain. Those with even a casual interest in New World archaeology or art NEED to get this book.

Terrific insight

This book gives terrific insight into the ancient Mexicans, their theology and world view, and their way of life. The illustrations are extremely well done, and the interpretation is on the mark. A must-have for anyone interested in ancient Mesoamerica.

Pre-Columbian Mexican Rituals and Myths

An excellent source book for anyone looking for authentic reproductions of the original that is housed in the Vatican Libray. This is a reproduction of an ancient document from the Mixtecs, around 1400 AD, from the area today known as Puebla or Oaxaxa. The project took seven years to complete as they painstakingly reproduced the Codex with accuracy and authenticity. The color plates are a delight to the eye as they depict kings, mythical warriors and the Mixtec belief system. Each plate is explained, in great detail, in the beginning of the book for your convevience. The colorful plates are intricate and exact on thick high quality paper. This is great stuff for an artist working in any medium that needs inspiration or just wants to reproduce. A good book for history buffs too.