Description
The Popol Vuh was first transcribed in the Quiche language, *but in Latin characters, in the middle of the sixteenth century, by some unknown but highly literate Quiche Maya Indian-probably from the oral traditions of his people. This now lost manuscript was copied at the end of the seventeenth century by Father Francisco Ximenez, then parish priest of the village of Santo Tomas Chichicastenango in the highlands of Guatemala, today the most celebrated and best-known Indian town in all of Central America.
The mythology, traditions, cosmogony, and history of the Quiche Maya, including the chronology of their kings down to 1550, are related in simple yet literary style by the Indian chronicler. And Adrian Recinos has made a valuable contribution to the understanding and enjoyment of the document through his thorough going introduction and his identification of places and people in the footnotes.
About the Author
Adri n Recinos-who made a new Spanish translation from the original Xim'nez manuscript in Quiche after he had discovered differences, omissions, and changes in the text published by Brasseur de Bourbourg in 1861?is a distinguished diplomat as well as linguist, archaeologist, and ethnologist. For sixteen years (1928- 44), minister and ambassador to the United States from his native Guatemala, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from George Washington University in 1942. Now retired, he lives in Guatemala City, where he pursues his linguistic and archaeological avocations.
Book Information
ISBN 9780806122663
Author Adrien Recinos
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint University of Oklahoma Press
Publisher University of Oklahoma Press
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 137mm * 18mm
