An Introduction to the Codex Cruz-Badianus

Abstract

In 1929, Charles Upson Clark (1875–1960), a history Professor at Columbia University, carrying out bibliographic research for the Smithsonian Institution on the early history of the Americas in the Vatican Library, came across a remarkable illustrated Latin manuscript from 1552 entitled Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis (Little Book of Indian Medicinal Herbs). In the same year, Lynn Thorndike, Columbia Professor of Medieval Science and Alchemy, noted its existence in Cardinal Francesco Barberini’s catalogue of Vatican manuscripts, and Giuseppe Gabrielli (1872–1942), librarian at the Royal Academy of the Lincei, published a note on the Windsor copy. The 1552 manuscript, now generally referred to as the Codex Cruz-Badianus, was a revelation, spreading new light on botanical and medicinal knowledge of the indigenous peoples of Mexico known today as Nahuans or Aztecs. It was to have a major impact on the history of Aztec culture in sixteenth-century New Spain.