Anonimo Mexicano [Hardcover]

Richley Crapo (Author), Bonnie Glass-Coffin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0874216230 | ISBN-13: 978-0874216233 | Publication Date: September 1, 2005 | Edition: 1

Transcribed from the original Nahuatl manuscript (written circa 1600) and translated into English for the first time, this epic chronicle tells the preconquest history of the Tlaxcalteca, who migrated into central Mexico from the northern frontier of the Toltec empire at its fall. By the time of Cortés's arrival in the sixteenth century, the Tlaxcalteca were the main rivals to the Mexica, or Aztecs, as they are commonly known. One of the few peoples of central Mexico not ruled from the Mexica capital city of Tenochtitlan, the Tlaxcalteca resided in the next valley to the east and became Cortés's powerful allies. They were also speakers of the Nahuatl language who followed a sophisticated agriculturally based urban way of life and documented their history in traditional —painted books—created by specially trained scribes. Thus, their chronicle, Anónimo Mexicano, offers a rare alternative perspective on the history of central Mexico, which has been dominated in the popular imagination by the stories of the Mexica. The original Anónimo Mexicano is housed in the Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris. Its first complete publication here includes a full English translation, the original classical Nahuatl, a modern Nahuatl version, and comprehensive annotation. This definitive edition thus will be valuable for linguists, ethnohistorians, folklorists, Mesoamerican scholars, and others. Moreover, anyone interested in the epic origin tales of peoples and nations will find interest in Anónimo Mexicano's grand narrative of dynastic wars, conquests, and migrations, cast in mythological terms.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Utah State University Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874216230
• ISBN-13: 978-0874216233
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,208,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars annotated translation of Mexican Native American creation and history myth, April 2, 2006

By 

Henry Berry "Henry Berry" (Southport, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anonimo Mexicano (Hardcover)

Not written until about 1600, after the Spanish conquest of Mexico by the defeat of the Aztecs, this text in the Nahuatl language of the Tlaxcalteca people covering a large part of Mexico north of the Aztec lands in central Mexico has the style and content of an ancient tribal document, like Middle East creation myths. The Tlaxcalteca allied with Cortes to help conquer the Aztecs, their longtime enemies who never conquered them. Myths, history, heroes, royalty, wanderings, wars, and settlements are all mixed together. Though it is rich and significant in content, "Anomino Mexicano" is not too long. This first English translation of the full text at the Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris is three columns per page from pages 7 to 65 in the original, classical, Nahuatl, modern Nahuatl, and English with illustrations taking up some of these pages. Notes run from pages 66 to 101, with a one-page Bibliography of about 30 references before the Index. The complete "Anonimo Mexicano" is a welcome addition to world literature as another vibrant epic on the origins, history, and lore of an ancient people.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent tool for those learning Nahuatl, January 29, 2007

By 

bukhtan (Chicago, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anonimo Mexicano (Hardcover)

I'd like to add a note or two to the remarks by the previous reviewer: this exemplary work
A) reproduces the original Tlaxcalteca Nahuatl text, in modern typescript but following the manuscript as closely as possible,
B) provides a transcription of that text (rather than a modern Nahuatl version) with vowel length and saltillo indicated (the latter by the roman letter "h", following the scholars Lockhart and Karttunen), and
C) an English translation.
Most of the extensive notes deal with manuscript issues (scribal errors, etc), but some of them address linguistic issues as such.
All aside from its great value for anyone interested in the Spanish invasion of the Valley of Mexico and the lore of the cultures of that region (in this case from a perspective a bit different than the usual material descending from Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) itself), this work provides learners of Nahuatl with a very accessible annotated text for productive study.