The Florentine Codex, Book Three: The Origin of the Gods

Two of the worlds leading scholars of the Aztec language and culture have translated Sahagns monumental and encyclopedic study of native life in Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest. This immense undertaking is the first complete translation into any language of Sahagns Nahuatl text, and represents one of the most distinguished contributions in the fields of anthropology, ethnography, and linguistics. Written between 1540 and 1585, the Florentine Codex (so named because the manuscript has been part of the Laurentian Librarys collections since at least 1791) is the most authoritative statement we have of the Aztecs lifeways and traditionsa rich and intimate yet panoramic view of a doomed people. The Florentine Codex is divided by subject area into twelve books and includes over 2,000 illustrations drawn by Nahua artists in the sixteenth century. The third book describes in detail the excitingand sometimes bloodyorigin stories of Uitzilopochtli, Titlacauan, and Quetzalcoatl. The appendix discusses other significant religious aspects of the Aztec religion, such as how boys are raised to be high priests and what happens to Aztecs after death.