• Book of the Chilam Balam of Nah : manuscript, [1857-1896]

Collections:
  • Mesoamerican Manuscripts
  • Indigenous Cultures
  • Patron Requests
Format:
  • Manuscript
  • Book
Date:
  • [1857-1896]
Subject:
Language:
View in catalog:
Extent:
  • 1 v. (32 leaves) : paper, ill. ; 23 x 17 cm.
Type:
  • Formulas, recipes, etc
  • Paper
  • Texts
Description:
  • Layout: 1 column, 28 lines.
  • Decoration: pages decorated with calligraphic birds that embellish initials or stand in the margin; other initials are embellished as a beast with a long neck. Decorative elements highlight titles and, in one instance, frame a paragraph.
  • Gates named this manuscript after the transcribers (Na).
Title sort:
  • Book of the Chilam Balam of Nah : manuscript, [1857-1896]
Alternative:
  • Hetu cutal enero: ti Mientotese ...
Relation:
  • Robert Garrett Collection, ca. 1340 B.C.-1900s
Text language:
  • Text in Yucatec with some Spanish.
Binding note:
  • In cloth box.
Provenance:
  • The text indicates that the manuscript was in the hands of the Na family (Teabo, Yucatán) at least until 1896; later acquired by William Gates; sold to Robert Garrett (purchased from William Gates in 1930); deposited by Garrett at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton in 1942; removed from the Institute in 1949, at Garrett's request, and donated to the Princeton University Library.
Source acquisition:
  • Gift of Robert Garrett, 1949.
Donor:
  • Garrett, Robert, 1875-1961
Former owner:
  • Gates, William, 1863-1940
Created:
  • 1857-01-01T00:00:00Z/1896-12-31T23:59:59Z
Abstract:
  • Manuscript transcribed by Jose Maria Na and Jose Secundino Na of Teabo, Yucatán. The first p. 30 is signed by Jose Secundino Na and dated December 18, 1857. The final pages are signed by Jose Maria Nah and dated August 5, 1863. The manuscript is divided into 2 parts: pages 1-30 constitute a liturgical calendar for an unspecified year, includes calendar count, with ancient daynames, a section on astronomy; p. 30-53 are concerned with diseases and their cures. Page 1 is the seating of January; p. 2 is a correlation of the Gregorian calendar with the Maya months of an unspecified year; p. 3-14 correlates each day of the Gregorian year with the days of the Mayan tzolkin (there are no numbers with the Mayan days); the saint is given for each day, and up to p. 6, it is indicated whether the day has a good omen or bad. Pages 15-30 concern the signs of the zodiac, indicating the significance of the births under particular signs, and the advantages of burning, fields, etc. This portion of the book was composed in 1857. Pages 30-53 are "Libro u tial acob" (book for curing), composed in 1863. The remaining pages, from p. 54 to the end, are later entries concerning sporadic births and deaths in the Na family in Teabo in a mixture of Maya and Spanish; the final pages are upside down. Manuscript divisions/headings are written in Spanish. The latest date is 1896.
Identifier:
  • ark:/88435/dczk51vt27j
Edm rights:
  • No Known Copyright
Range label:
  • Logical
Uniform title:
  • Chilam Balam de Nah (Manuscript)
References:
  • Cline, H. F. Guide to Ethnohistorical Sources, 1150
  • Weeks, J.M. Mesoamerican Ethnohistory in United States Libraries, 151
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