Item Summary

Manuscript, written and illustrated in Chumayel, Yucatán, is a late 18th century copy, cf. Edmondson, Berrera, and Roys. Concerns the history of the conquest of the Yucatán by the Spaniards. Includes the ritual of the four world-quarters; the rise of Hunac Ceel to power; a prophecy for Katun 11-Ahau; the building of the mounds; memoranda concerning the history of Yucatán; notes on the calendar; the amorial bearings of Yucatán; notes on astronomy; the interrogation of the chiefs; the creation of the world; the rituals of the angels; a song of the Itza; the creation of the uinal; a history of the Spanish conquest; the prophecy of Chilam Balam and the story of Antonio Martinez; a chapter of questions and answers; an incantation; a series of Katun-prophecies; chronicles; a book of Katun-prophecies; the last judgment; prophecies of a new religion, cf. Roys. There are inscriptions in Spanish and a native language throughout (1832-1838), including names, places, and dates. For example "Chumayel Junio 28. de 1838 Chilam Balam [por Pedro Bristano].

Descriptive Information

Title
Book of the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, [between 1775 and 1800].
Call Number
C0940 (Princeton Mesoamerican Manuscripts, no. 4)
Identifier
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/0z708w51x
Language
Mayan languages
Date Created
[between 1775 and 1800].
Format
Manuscript
Extent
1 v. (55 leaves) : paper, ill. ; 20 x 15 cm.
Provenance
Found in the 19th-century in Chumayel, probably by don Adumaro Molina; given to Bishop Crescencio Carrillo y Ancona; the manuscript was expropriated by the government of General Alvarado (from Rivero Figueroa's library) in 1915; became part of the Cepeda Library in Merida and then disappeared; said to have belonged to Julio Berzunza in 1945.
Source Acquisition
Acquired in 1968 from the widow of Julio Berzunza by Princeton University Library with the aid of subvention provided by John Hauberg, Princeton Class of 1939.
References
Cline, H. F. Guide to Ethnohistorical Sources, 1146
Weeks, J.M. Mesoamerican Ethnohistory in United States Libraries, 148
Rights Statement
No Known Copyright
Notes
Layout: 1 column, 32 lines.
Decoration: 27 leaves of illustration ranging from full-page drawings (in brown ink and red ink wash) to smaller ones on a portion of a textual page.
Binding Note
Modern marbled boards; originally bound in leather (deerskin?); in cloth box.

Discovery Information

Subject
Mayas—Antiquities
Mayas—History
Mayas—Religion
Maya language—Texts
Indigenous Studies

Physical Characteristics

File Count
110

Institutional Information

Collection
Mesoamerican Manuscripts
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/df2cb964-124d-49c9-962f-7ca5137b7aee/manifest