Description
General History of the Things of New Spain II
Book Summary
This second volume of Bernardino de Sahagún’s masterpiece brings together books 7 through 12 of his monumental research on Nahuatl culture. The reader will find an unprecedented ethnographic record that spans from astronomical knowledge and divinatory practices to Aztec social history and the Spanish conquest. Based on direct interviews with indigenous informants in the 16th century, this text is an essential primary source for understanding the pre-Hispanic world from its own internal logic.
What is it about?
The work compiles the fieldwork of the Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún, who between 1540 and 1590 interviewed wise men and elders in Tlatelolco, Texcoco, and Tenochtitlán. This second volume covers the books dedicated to astronomy, calendar cycles, rhetorical forms in the Nahuatl language, commerce, Aztec social structure, and the account of the conquest from the indigenous perspective. The text is preserved thanks to the Florentine Codex, a copy housed in the Laurentian Library in Florence, since the original manuscript was lost, possibly destroyed by colonial authorities. Sahagún carried out the first ethnographic exercise in history by attempting to understand an alien mentality on its own terms.
Main Topics
- Mexica cosmology and astronomy: knowledge of the sun, moon, and stars
- Pre-Hispanic divinatory practices and calendar systems
- Rhetoric and traditional speeches in the Nahuatl language
- Social structure, commerce, and daily life of the Aztecs
- Account of the Spanish conquest from the perspective of native peoples
Who is it recommended for?
This book is intended for students and researchers of history, anthropology, and ethnography of Mesoamerica, as well as readers interested in pre-Columbian cultures and the history of the conquest of Mexico. It will also be of great value to those who wish to learn about the origin of the ethnographic method and the work of one of the first chroniclers to document the indigenous worldview from within.
What this book offers
- Direct access to one of the most complete primary sources on Aztec culture before and during the conquest
- Understanding of the Nahuatl worldview through its own categories of thought
- Detailed knowledge of pre-Hispanic astronomy, rhetoric, and social organization
- A unique perspective of the Spanish conquest narrated by the indigenous people themselves
- The testimony of the first documented attempt at ethnographic practice in Western history
Technical Specifications
- Author: de Sahagún, Bernardino
- Publisher: LINKGUA EDICIONES
- Language: Spanish
- Topic: CLASSIC TEXTS
- Collection: PENDING COLLECTION
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: October 2010
- Number of pages: 462
- Weight: 120 g
Editorial Assessment
This paperback edition of the second volume of the General History of the Things of New Spain offers practical access to a fundamental work of Mexican historiography. Sahagún's work, which combined fieldwork with the systematic collection of testimonies, makes this text an essential document for anyone interested in Nahuatl culture and the origins of the ethnographic method. Its value lies in the authenticity of the indigenous voices it preserves, offering a vision of the pre-Hispanic world that is difficult to find in other chronicles of the era.