Codex Dresdensis

Codex Dresdensis – Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Mscr. Dresd. R 310 – SĂ€chsische Landesbibliothek – Staats - und UniversitĂ€tsbibliothek (Dresden, Germany)

Middle America — 1200–1250

A practical calendar, testimony to science, and an artistic enigma to this day: the most richly decorated and probably the most famous of the only four surviving Mayan manuscripts

  1. With 39 artistically illustrated pages (originally folded as a leporello), the most richly illustrated of the only four surviving Mayan manuscripts

  2. Celestial observations, numerical mysticism, and a practical calendar for the worship of certain gods, hunting, or home construction

  3. This codex represents one of the most important ethnographic sources on the Maya today

Codex Dresdensis

Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€
(1,000€ - 3,000€)
  1. Description
  2. Facsimile Editions (2)
Description
Codex Dresdensis

Of the three surviving Mayan manuscripts with hieroglyphs, the Codex Dresdensis is considered to be the most richly decorated: it boasts 39 illustrated pages. Aside from its aesthetic value, it represents one of the most important ethnographic sources on the Maya that has survived to the present.

Codex Dresdensis

"Only three of the native books of pictures with explanatory hieroglyphs, usually called codices, have survived. Although imperfectly understood, they have added considerably to our knowledge of the Maya deities."
J. E. S. Thompson, The Civilizations of the Mayas, Chicago 1958, p. 26

An Artistic Gem

"... Codex Dresdensis, which besides being the most important of the three Maya codices, is also considered as the most artistic. It has been printed in Graz with the most up-to-date techniques, and the photography of almost all of the codexÂŽs 78 pages is entirely new. Included with the full color Graz facsimile of the codex, which is in its original screen-like form, is a supplementary 135-page book that contains commentaries by Helmut Deckert and Ferdinand Anders on the history and early editions of the manuscript. The book also has 39 pages of illustrations, including the codex as it was printed in black and white by the Villacortas in 1930, and examples of the color reproductions of Ernst Forstmann and Lord E. K. Kingsborough. The codex and the book come packed together in a heavy cardboard box with a leather spine and are a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in Maya codices."
H. C. Ball, Newsletter (Inst. of Maya Studies) jan. 1977 (Miami Museum of Science)

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Codex Dresden
Dresden Codex
Size / Format
78 pages / 20.5 × 9.0 cm
Origin
Mexico
Date
1200–1250
Epochs
Illustrations
74 full-page miniatures
Previous Owners
Johann Christian Götze (1692–1749)

Available facsimile editions:
Codex Dresdensis – Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Mscr. Dresd. R 310 – SĂ€chsische Landesbibliothek – Staats - und UniversitĂ€tsbibliothek (Dresden, Germany)
Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Graz, 1975

Mayan Dresden Codex
TGB Limited Editions – Madrid, 2023
Limited Edition: 1739 copies
Facsimile Editions

#1 Codex Dresdensis

Publisher: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Graz, 1975
Binding: Bound as a folding book. Half leather case.
Commentary: 1 volume (142 pages) by Ferdinand Anders and Helmut Deckert
Language: German

The commentary volume comprises an introduction to the manuscript and its history as well as a retrospect of the early editions of the Codex Dresdensis, for example the 1930 black-and-white edition of Villacorta and the colored reproductions of Ernst Forstmann and Lord E. K. Kingsborough. It includes 39 black-and-white and 10 color plates.
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€
(1,000€ - 3,000€)

#2 Mayan Dresden Codex

TGB Limited Editions – Madrid, 2023

Publisher: TGB Limited Editions – Madrid, 2023
Limited Edition: 1739 copies
Binding: The two facsimiles come in a handmade, protective and decorative case made of two 2 cm thick, transparent methacrylate panels, which are held together by 4 gold-plated screws.
Commentary: 1 volume by Fran Nuño, Luis Montero Manglano, Alicia Vallina, and Juan Yanni
Languages: English, Spanish
1 volume: Complete reproduction of the original document (extent and color). This edition comprises a complete facsimile of the original document in the form of a folding book (length when unfolded: 3.56 meters), a supplementary, retouched and subsequently colored facsimile of the same (length when unfolded: 3.56 meters) and a separate commentary volume in codex form. The pages are trimmed at the cost of some small features of the original manuscript.
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