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Some of those who examine this book will say, that it is too early for a
commentary on the "Dresdensis," since Maya research is yet in its infancy,
and this opinion is certainly justified inasmuch as a final explanation of
that remarkable monument is, of course, impossible at the present time. On
the other hand the accounts of the numerous investigations and discoveries
which have been made thus far are so isolated and so scattered in the shape
of a hundred short magazine articles, that it is certainly desirable to
have what we know and what we have still to learn gathered together under
one head. This book is intended, therefore, to give an idea of the state of
our knowledge in this department of research at this time, when the
nineteenth century is passing into the twentieth, with the definite
expectation that this work will soon be far outstripped and will possess an
historical value only.
The contents of the following pages are of very little value, unless the
student can compare them with an edition of the manuscript. My first
edition was published in 1880 at Leipsic and the second at Dresden in 1892.
The edition in Lord Kingsborough's "Mexican Antiquities" (in Volume III of
that work, London, 1831) is still of practical use.
And since in this work I must premise a knowledge of the elements of the
subject, I would recommend, as additional aids to the comprehension of the
following pages, my "Erläuterungen zur Mayahandschrift der Königlichen
öffentlichen Bibliothek zu Dresden" (Dresden, 1886), and also Brinton, "A
Primer of Mayan Hieroglyphics" (in the publications of the University of
Pennsylvania. Series in Philology, Literature and Archaeology, Vol. III). I
would also mention the very valuable work by Paul Schellhas, "Die
Göttergestalten der Mayahandschriften" (Dresden, 1897), which I follow in
the designation of the various gods by letters of the alphabet.
It need hardly be pointed out, that the numerous pioneer articles by Edward
Seler offer abundant instruction to the student in this field as well as in
that of Aztec remains.
I wish to express heartfelt thanks to Mrs. Zelia Nuttall and Mr. Charles P.
Bowditch, who have aided my work in various ways and have thus rendered
possible the publication of this book.