The American Society for Ethnohistory

Codex Azcatitlan. Vols. 1 and 2 by Michel Graulich

Review by: Dana Leibsohn
Ethnohistory, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Summer, 1997), pp. 566-567
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/483040 .
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566 Book Reviews

should provide a template for others attempting to situate ritual structures

in historical contexts.

Codex Azcatitlan. Vols. i and 2. Introduction by Michel Graulich. Study

by Robert H. Barlow, revised and updated by Michel Graulich. (Paris:
Bibliotheque nationale de France/Societe des Americanistes, I995. I59 pp.,
introduction, illustrations, maps, references, bibliographies. 33oFF.)
Dana Leibsohn, Smith College
Through painted images and Nahuatl glosses, the CodexAzcatitlanpresents
a seminal account of Mexica history. The highlights of these annals-the
migration from Aztlan (here Azcatitlan) to Tenochtitlan, the succession
of imperial rulers, Cortes's arrival, and the introduction of Christianity-
overlap with other Nahua histories. What distinguishes the Codex Azcati-
tian from its colonial counterparts are the unique ways it records indige-
nous memories of the pre-Hispanic past. The manuscript thus conveys how
Nahuas reinterpretedand construed their pre-Columbian history. No less
importantly, it provides significant insights into how European and pre-
Hispanic modes of record keeping intertwined to create colonial culture.
This new edition of the Codex Azcatitlan, issued to commemorate the
centennial anniversaryof the Journalde la Societe'des Americanistes,is the
first full-color facsimile of the manuscript. The two-volume set also re-
prints Robert Barlow's commentary on the codex; first published in the
journal in I949, it continues to be foundational for all scholarship on the
Codex Azcatitlan.To complement Barlow's commentary, Michel Graulich
has written an introduction, added footnotes, and updated the bibliogra-
phy. Consequently, the Codex Azcatitlanpays homage to the society and to
Barlow, and it transforms the manuscript, which has resided in the Biblio-
theque nationale in Paris since i898, into an accessible primary document.
The facsimile offers consistently crisp photographic reproductions.
The Bibliotheque nationale photographers (who are not named) have done
an exquisite job. Colors remain even across the body of the manuscript, and
the faintest glosses are discernible. Moreover, iconographic details, sketch
lines, the idiosyncrasies of each painter's hand, and the layering of images
and writing all remain clearly visible. The only flaw (and it is a minor one)
stems from the facsimile's binding: images and glosses sometimes slip into
the central ditch of the binding and are difficult to read.
A bilingual commentary (French and Spanish) appears in the second
volume. Here readerswill find Barlow's I949 interpretationand Graulich's
discussion of both the codex and Barlow's work. Barlow's commentary

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Book Reviews 567

focuses on the codex narrative and its glyphs, occasionally drawing com-
parisons with other Mexica histories. Graulich's introduction addresses,
among other themes, pictorial record keeping and calendrics in pre-
conquest central Mexico, the codex's physical features, and its history.
While Graulich's introduction frames the manuscript well, his most salient
insights surface in his notes. Drawing on a wealth of research, Graulich
debates with and occasionally corrects Barlow; more frequently he ad-
dresses the implications of Barlow's observations and presents expanded
or alternativereadings. Most notable are Graulich's mythological and cos-
mological explications, which represent his most significant divergences
from Barlow. Overall, Graulich's comments are solid and informative, and
they generate a dialogue with Barlow that will be illuminating for those
familiar with both scholars' work.
However, Graulich'scontributions might have been more ambitious in
their scope. For example, the introduction offers little vantage onto either
his or Barlow's intellectual perspective. More information on why Graulich
updated the earlier commentary as he did would have made the scholars'
conversation-a prominent feature of this publication-more engaging.
Graulich might also have read the codex more broadly and addressed a
wider range of queries. Barlow's commentary follows the visual narrative
of the manuscript closely, unraveling its historical plot. So do Graulich's
notes. As a result, other elements that contribute significantlyto the codex's
meaning-relationships between glosses and images, the composition of
scenes, changes in reading order, the use of color, and the different ways
that conquest and death are depicted-are treated superficiallyor not at all.
Thus questions about how the codex creates its meanings, not to mention
their significance, remain unexplored.
Ultimately, the Codex Azcatitlanwill be a valuable resource for librar-
ies and for people concerned with the ethnohistory, art history, or anthro-
pology of pre-Hispanic and early colonial Mexico. The high-quality fac-
simile, the reprint of Barlow's Spanish commentary and translation of that
work into French, and Graulich's introduction and carefully researched
notes all make the Codex Azcatitlan a publication worth owning. For spe-
cialists, these two volumes offer better access to, and new interpretations
of, the manuscript and its visual imagery; for those curious about pictorial
documents from Mexico, the codex provides an informative introduction.
Although less provocative than it could have been, the Codex Azcatitlan
exemplifies a strong tradition of manuscript scholarship that continues to
be instructive and vibrant today.

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