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Find out more‘Codex Corner’: Codex Re-naming
19th Apr 2019
Group of renamed ancient Mexican codices
In the last couple of decades a movement has taken hold, both in Mexico itself and in Europe, to give ancient Mexican codices more authentic titles, rather than leave them saddled with names - often of their transient European owners - associated with places and individuals far removed from their communities of origin... In our main picture we feature over a dozen of those recently renamed (here shown with their more commonly known titles before re-naming). (Written/compiled by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)
The first serious attempt to survey, classify and give descriptions of all Mesoamerican codices known at the time was carried out in 1975 by John B. Glass and Donald Robertson, with their Census of Native Middle American Pictorial Manuscripts, published as part of the encyclopaedic Handbook of Middle American Indians by University of Texas Press (pic 1).
Here we list the principal codices that have been re-named, the bulk of them belonging to the Mixtec culture (to learn more about these, follow the link below).
To keep things simple, we give the commonly used name in purple and the new, re-named title in green...
• Codex Aubin - Xiuhpohualli de Tenochtitlan
• Codex Borgia - Codex Yohualli Ehécatl
• Matrícula de los Tributos - Codex Moctezuma
• Codex Colombino - Becker I - Codex Iya Nacuaa
• Codex Selden - Codex Añute
• Codex Borbonicus - El Libro del Cihuacóatl
• Codex Becker II - Codex Iya Nacuaa II
• Codex Magliabechiano - Libro de la Vida
• Codex Laud - Codex Mictlan
• Codex Egerton 2895 - Codex Ñuu Ñaña
• Codex Bodley - Codex Ñuu Tnoo-Ndisi Nuu
• Codex Fejérváry-Mayer - El Libro de Tezcatlipoca or El Tonalamatl de los Pochtecas (see pic 2)
• Codex Cospi - Codex Tlamanalli
• Codex Vaticanus 3773/B - Codex Tonalpouhqui
• Codex Zouche-Nuttall - Codex Tonindeyé
• Codex Porfirio Díaz - Codex Yada
• Codex Vindobonensis - Codex Yuta Tnoho.
Info source:-
• ‘Los títulos de los códices by Xavier Noguez, Arqueología Mexicana no. 152, Mexico City, July-August 2019, pp. 14-15.
Image sources:-
• All photos by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore.
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Group of renamed ancient Mexican codices
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