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A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a book in the format used for modern books, with separate pages normally bound together and given a cover. It was a Roman invention which replaced the scroll and eventually became books. Although technically any modern paperback is a codex, the term is only used for manuscript (hand-written) books, produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. New World codices were written as late as the sixteenth century. Those written before the Spanish conquests seem all to have been single long sheets folded concertina-style, sometimes written on both sides of the local amate paper. They are therefore strictly speaking not actually in codex format, although they more consistently have "Codex" in their usual names than other types of manuscript. The codices of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica had the same form as the European codex, but were instead made with long folded strips of either fig bark (amatl) or plant fibers, often with a layer of whitewash applied before writing. The codex was an improvement upon the scroll, which it gradually replaced, first in the West, and much later in Asia. The codex in turn became the printed book, for which the term is not used. In China, because books were already printed, but only on one side of the paper, there were intermediate stages, such as scrolls folded concertina-style and pasted together at the back. Aztec codices (singular codex) are books written by pre-Columbian and also Spanish colonial era Aztecs. These are our primary sources for understanding the Aztec culture. The pre-Columbian codices differ from European codices in that they are largely pictorial; they were not meant to symbolize spoken or written narratives. The colonial era codices not only contain Aztec pictograms, but also Classical Nahuatl (in the Latin alphabet), Spanish, and sometimes Latin. Maya codices are folding books stemming from the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, written in Maya hieroglyphic script on Mesoamerican amatl paper and containing many pictures. They are the products of professional scribes working under the patronage of the Howler Monkey Gods. The codices have been named for the cities in which they eventually settled. The Dresden codex is generally considered the most important of the few that survive. Background Only three codices and possibly a fragment of a fourth survived to modern times. These are:
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Scrictly not a codex, I am including it in this section as an important book lending much insight into the Mayan culture. The Popol Vuh (K'iche' for "Council Book" or "Book of the Community"; Popol Wuj in modern spelling) is book written in the Classical Quiché language containing mythological narratives and a genealogy of the rulers of the post classic Quiché Maya kingdom of highland Guatemala. The book contains a creation myth followed by mythological stories of two Heroic Twins: Hunahpu (Junajpu) and Xbalanque (Xb‘alanke). The second part of the book deals with details of the foundation and history of the Quiché kingdom, tying in the royal family with the legendary gods in order to assert rule by divine right. The book is written in the Latin alphabet but is thought to have been based on an original Maya codex in the Mayan hieroglyphic script. The original manuscript which was written around 1550 has been lost, but a copy of another handwritten copy made by the Friar Francisco Ximénez in the early 18th century exists today in the Newberry library in Chicago. The significance of the book is enormous since it is one of a small number of early Mesoamerican mythological texts - it is often considered the single most important piece of Mesoamerican literature. The mythology of the Quiché is believed to correspond quite closely to that of the Pre Classic Maya, as depicted in the San Bartolo murals, and iconography from the classic period often contains motifs that are interpretable as scenes from the Popol Vuh. History Whoever were the original authors The Quiché Manuscript was found in the Chichicastenango by the Dominican priest Francisco Ximénez in the early 18th century. He translated and copied the manuscript and added it as an appendix to his grammatical work "Arte de Tres Lengvas: Kaqchikel, Quiché y Tzutuhil". this manuscript was kept in a neglected corner of the Universidad de San Carlos library in Guatemala City, where it was discovered by Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg and Carl Scherzer in 1854. However after this "the Chichicastenango manuscript " dissapeared from history. Brasseur and Scherzer published French and Spanish translations a few years later. Another copy of the Chichicastenango manuscript, also made in the early 18th century, was found by Brasseur de Bourbourg in Rabinal, and this manuscript he brought with him to Paris. Following his death it was sold and resold eventually winding up in the Chicago Newberry Library. This copy of Ximenéz' copy of the original Quiché manuscript is the earliest extant manuscript of the Popol Vuh. Since Brasseur de Bourbourg and Scherzers first translations numerous translations to English and other languages have been made, and the Popol Vuh is considered one of the literary treasures of the Americas. Contents Part 1 Creation Myth There was only immobility and silence in the darkness, in the night. Only the Creator, the Maker, Tepeu, Gucumatz, the Forefathers, were in the water surrounded with light. They were hidden under green and blue feathers, and were therefore called Gucumatz... Then while they meditated, it became clear to them that when dawn would break, man must appear. Then they planned the creation, and the growth of the trees and the thickets and the birth of life and the creation of man. Thus it was arranged in the darkness and in the night by the Heart of Heaven who is called Huracán. The first is called Caculhá Huracán. The second is ChipiCaculhá. The third is Raxa-Caculhá. And these three are the Heart of Heaven. Their first attempts proved unsuccessful. They attempted to make man of mud, but man could neither move nor speak. After destroying the mud men, they tried again by creating wooden creatures that could speak but had no soul or blood and quickly forgot him. Angered over the flaws in his creation, they destroyed them by tearing them apart. In their final attempt, the “True People” were constructed with maize. The following is an excerpt of this myth: They came together in darkness to think and reflect. This is how they came to decide on the right material for the creation of man. ... Then our Makers Tepew and Q'uk'umatz began discussing the creation of our first mother and father. Their flesh was made of white and yellow corn. The arms and legs of the four men were made of corn meal. links: The Popol Vuh in English
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| Dresden Codex |
Friar Diego de Landa, writing in about 1566, reported that "we found a great number of books . . . and since they contained nothing but superstitions and falsehoods of the devil we burned them, which they took most grievously, and which gave them great pain". If the good brother's crime of book burning could be excused by his religious zeal, he might be able to claim some justification. The codices have been described as priest's handbooks, used to time rituals and make auguries. The Dresden Codex survived the fires of the Spanish friars because it was sent to Europe as an example of native art. It may have been sent to King Charles V by Cortes himself. But the Spanish were more interested in gold than pagan art. The Codex eventually found its way to the Dresden public library, where it gathered dust until it was rediscovered in the late 19th Century by the library archivist, Ernst Forstemann.
The Dresden Codex is held in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek (SLUB), the state library in Dresden, Germany. It is the most elaborate of the codices, of a high artistic quality. Many sections are ritualistic (including so-called 'almanacs'), others are of an astrological nature (eclipses, the Venus cycles). The codex is written on a long sheet of paper which is 'fanfolded' to make a book of 39 leaves, written on both sides. It was probably written just before the Spanish conquest. Somehow it made its way to Europe and was bought by the royal library of the court of Saxony in Dresden in 1739. Venus Cycle
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| Madrid Codex | Although of inferior workmanship, the Madrid Codex is even more varied than the Dresden Codex and is the product of eight different scribes. It is in the Museo de América in Madrid, Spain, where it may have been sent back to the Royal Court by Hernán Cortés.
Both parts were re-united in 1888, and the Madrid Codex is now in the Museo de América, in Madrid, Spain.
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| The Paris Codex |  The Paris Codex contains prophecies for tuns and katuns (see Maya Calendar), and is thus, in this respect, akin to the Books of Chilan Balam. It was found in a trashcan in a Paris library. As a result, it is in very poor condition. It is currently held in the Bibliothèque Nationale (National Library), Paris, France |
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| The Grolier Codex | While the other three codices were known to scholars since the 19th century, the Grolier Codex
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| Other Codices | Given the rarity and importance of these books, rumors of finding new ones often develop interest. Archaeological excavations of Maya sites have turned up a number of rectangular lumps of plaster and paint flakes, most commonly in elite tombs. These lumps are the remains of codices where all the organic material has rotted away. A few of the more coherent of these lumps have been preserved, with the slim hope that some technique to be developed by future generations of archaeologists may be able to recover some information from these remains of ancient pages. |
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Gods create world. 
only surfaced in the 1970s. This fourth Maya codex was said to have been found in a cave, but the question of its authenticity has still not been resolved to everybody's satisfaction. The codex is really a fragment of 11 pages. It is currently in a museum in Mexico, but is not on display to the public. Scanned photos of it are available on the web. The pages are much less detailed than any of the other codices. Each page shows a hero or god, facing to the left. At the top of each page is a number. Down the left of each page are what appears to be a list of dates.