The Art of the Duran Codex Illustrations from Historia de las Indias de Nueva Espana y Tierra Firme

Illustrations from the Duran Codex in 62 full page color plates

Diego Durán (c. 1537-1588) was born in Seville and moved as a child to Texcoco in Mexico where grew up speaking the Nahuatl language and observing local customs. After entering the Dominican order in 1556 he was asked to produce a study of the history and customs of the native peoples to assist with the order's missionary work. In 1581 he completed Historia de las Indias de Nueva España y islas de Tierra Firme (lit. History of the Indies of New Spain and Islands of the Mainland), also known as the Durán Codex. The book's rich illustrations, covering historical, ethnographic and ritual-calendrical subjects, are based on the Ixtlilxochitl Codex and other indigenous sources. Lithograph copies made by Jules Desportes were published in 1880 as an annex to Volume II of the text. The present collection comprises colored versions of the lithographs from an edition of the work held by the British Library, London.