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Precolumbian Codices Overview

Although it is a small corpus of great international importance it is difficult for a student to find a definitive and complete list of pre-Columbian codices. Partly this is because it is not clear what should or shouldn't be included for few reasons:

• it's difficult to identify a precise date for some codices
• the conquest occurred over a period of time
• the Spanish arrived at different places at different times
• codices may have been made after contact with Spanish but in the pre-contact style
• even if a codex is clearly mixed some parts may be described as pre-Columbian
• some pre-Columbian texts only survive in facsimile form made by Europeans
• some important texts are not strictly defined as codexes, but scrolls or rolls, or 'lienzo's (such as maps)
• the authenticity of some has been doubted.

To help clarify, the following list provides an overview. The term 'PreColumbian' here indicates that the codex does not appear to have been created with any Spanish influence in mind, even if it is created after the date of first landing, particularly considering that Spanish influences did not reach present day Oaxaca for many years. 'InterSpanish' indicates pre-Columbian content that is clearly being related to Spanish content, such as where indigenous imagery is accompanied by Spanish glosses, etc. There are other important indigenous texts from the early colonial period but they are too many to include here.

Bibliography