Codex Borbonicus

Codex Borbonicus

The Codex Borbonicus is a copy of a pre-Spanish illuminated manuscript from the early colonial age, which is now lost today. Therefore, this copy represents the only surviving specimen of this invaluable source on pre-Spanish Mexico and belong among a very small number of Aztec codices to survive the Spanish Inquisition in colonial New Spain. The value of the codex as a source of information about the Mexican language is emphasized by the fact that it serves not only as an illuminated manuscript for calendar information, but also as a work that with certainty originated from the strong influence of the Aztec capital, almost devoid of any European influence. This manuscript is critical for the analysis of Mexica calendric constructions, deities, and rituals. Its name is derived from its former repository in the Palais Bourbon in France but is stored today in the Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée Nationale in Paris.

An Aztec Unicum

The Codex Borbonicus is one of the most interesting documents about pre-Hispanic Mexico from the 16th century. This large format illuminated manuscript brings a lot of news that has not been preserved anywhere else. The fact that it also poses riddles that have not yet been solved makes it even more interesting.
The style of the illuminated manuscript is that of the high valley of Mexico at the time before the conquest by the Spaniards. The decoration of the Aztec manuscripts of this late period must have been immensely sumptuous. To assess this style, one must rely on copies from the colonial period because no original has been preserved in this region, which was exposed above all others. The Codex Borbonicus is a copy of a pre-Hispanic illuminated manuscript from the early colonial period.
The value of the codex as a source of Mexican studies is underlined by the fact that it is the only illuminated manuscript of calendrical content almost untouched by European influences and that it certainly originates from the closer sphere of influence of the Aztec capital.

History of the Manuscript

In their impatience to convert the peoples of Mexico to Christianity and “Europeanize” them, Spanish Inquisitors destroyed entire libraries full of thousands of indigenous manuscripts, which must be one of the great cultural atrocities in history and represents a tremendous and irrevocable loss of knowledge. The Codex Borbonicus was one of the few manuscripts to be spared from this fate, but when and under what circumstances it came to Europe are not known. It was first mentioned in the El Escorial Library in 1778 but appears to have been stolen sometime during the first quarter of the 19th century. It reappeared at a French auction in 1826 and was acquired by Pierre-Paul Druon, curator of the library of the National Assembly for 1,300 gold francs. The Codex Borbonicus was officially designated as a National Treasure of France in 1960. Two facsimiles of the original have been made, a color lithograph of a handmade copy from 1899 and this high-quality photographic reproduction created in 1974.