Water color reproductions of the herbs in the Badianus Manuscript (Codex Barberini, Latin 241) Vatican Library : an Aztec herbal of 1552
| HOLLIS Number | |
|---|---|
| Contributors |
Vuillemin, Theresa
|
| Publication |
[Place of publication not identified]:
[publisher not identified],
1931-1933
|
Description
In 1932-1933, Marie Thérèse Missonnier-Vuillemin, niece of Cardinal Tisserant, then head of the Vatican Library, was contracted by William Gates, founder and president of the Maya Society, to produce these is a planned publication of the recently rediscovered Aztec herbal of 1552. The Maya Society published Gates' edition in 1939 with Ms. Vuillemin's illustrations. (Ms. Vuillemin also created the watercolor illustrations for Emily Walcott Emmart's facsimile edition of the Badianus published in 1940 by Johns Hopkins University Press.)
Title from label on container spine.
Watercolor tracings by Marie-Therese Missonnier-Vuillemin, niece of Cardinal Eugène Tisserant, Librarian of the Vatican Library (1957-1971).
Item in picture folder with tape at each the corners to keep item in place (watercolor reproduction slides under tape, as in a photo-album); typewritten plant names above watercolor of reproduced plant(s).
In portfolio in pocket of container: 1 envelope, opened, laid flat, and mounted on sheet 18 x 47 cm, folded to 18 x 23 cm. The envelope, with cancelled stamps from Vatican City, is addressed to Mr. William Gates, President of the Maya Society, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore Maryland.
Also in portfolio in pocket of container: 2 facsimile reproductions of a typescript letter from Mons. Eugene Tisserant, Pro-Prefetto, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, to Willliam Gates, President of the Maya Society, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, dated July 26, 1933; 1 typescript letter from Anselmo M. Albareda, Prefect, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, to William Gates, President of the Maya Society, The Johns Hopkins University, dated April 5, 1940; 1 typescript letter From Edith R. McComas, Executrix, Estate of William Gates, President, The Maya Society, to Mns. Anselmo M. Albareda, Prefect, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, dated October 12, 1940; and 1 typescript letter from Anselmo M. Albareda, Prefect, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, to Mrs McComas, dated December 12, 1940.
Also in portfolio in pocket of container: an article entitled An Aztec herbal of 1552 /[by] Aglae Van Valzah, clipped from The Spur Magazine and Almanack (v. 4:no.11 (Feb 1954)), providing a brief description and history of the Badianus manuscript; a published letter from Emily Emmart to Elizabeth L. Clark, dated January 13, 1951, extracted from the Garden Club of America Bulletin (v. 41:no.2 (March 1953), p. 40-46), discussing her involvement with the publication of the Badianus manuscript; an advertisement from the Smithsonian Institution announcing the forthcoming (March 1937) publication of the Badianus manuscript (2 pages, undated); 1 typewritten document (1 leaf ; 33 x 22 cm, folded to 18 x 22 cm) soliciting financial support from the Garden Club of America Founders Fund for the publication of the facsimile of the Badianus manuscript ; 1 leaf of ruled paper (16 x 9 cm) with brief handwritten notes in unidentified hand regarding this collection of watercolor tracings.
Plates numbered in pencil on picture folder back, top right corner.
"In 1552 Jacobo de Grado, the friar in charge of the Convent of Tlatelolco and the College of Santa Cruz, had the herbal created and translated for Don Francisco de Mendoza, son of Don Antonio de Mendoza, the viceroy of New Spain. Mendoza sent the Latin manuscript to Spain, where it was deposited into the royal library. There it presumably remained until the early 17th century, when it somehow came into the possession of Diego de Cortavila y Sanabria, pharmacist to King Philip IV. From Cortavila it travelled to the Italian Cardinal Francesco Barberini, possibly via intermediate owners. The manuscript remained in the Barberini library until 1902, when the Barberini library became part of the Vatican Library, and the manuscript along with it. Finally, in 1990 — over four centuries after it was sent to Spain — Pope John Paul II returned the Libellus to Mexico, and it is now in the library of the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico City.."--Wikipedia (viewed January 30, 2020).