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

Unlock the rich, enigmatic universe of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica with The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript, a monumental visual and scholarly achievement meticulously prepared by Gisele Díaz and Alan Rodgers, with an extensive introduction by archaeologist Bruce E. Byland. Published by Dover Publications, this volume presents a vivid, complete color restoration of one of the very few ancient screenfold manuscripts to survive the widespread destruction of the Spanish Conquest. Originating from the Highlands of Central Mexico or Western Oaxaca, the original Codex Borgia is a masterpiece of Mixtec-Puebla style iconography. It served as a sacred hand-painted book used by indigenous priests for divination, complex astronomical calculations, ritual scheduling, and navigating the 260-day Mesoamerican ritual calendar (tonalpohualli). The stunning plates in this edition reconstruct the vibrant native pigments and intricate lines, offering researchers an unblemished look at native deities, ritual sacrifices, and cosmic journeys. This volume serves as an exceptional cross-disciplinary reference tool for anthropology, art history, religious studies, native American history, and stands as a vital asset for any academic or public library's global antiquity and art collections.