At the beginning of the 16th century, exploring Europeans were astonished by the level of civilization enjoyed by the inhabitants of the Yucatan. Centuries later in 1805, Guillermo Dupaix, a Spanish military captain of French descent and pioneer in the science of archaeology, was sent by order of the King of Spain to explore the ruins of pre-Hispanic New Spain. José Luciano Castañeda, artist for the National Museum of Mexico, accompanied Dupaix and rendered dozens of sketches.

We have selected a sampling of Castañeda’s contemporary manuscript copies depicting the ruins of Palenque in present day Chiapas, Mexico. Unfortunately, during the expedition, Dupaix was arrested under suspicion of being a revolutionary and their work came to a halt. Eventually he was acquitted and the publication of Castañeda’s sketches constituted the first drawings of Maya architecture to be published.

Dupaix’s report (1) and Castañeda’s sketches (2) were given to the APS in 1830 by Joel R. Poinsett (APS 1827), along with a large collection of Mexican artifacts, most of which are housed at the University of Pennsylvania. Poinsett was sent to Mexico in 1809 to investigate the prospects of the revolutionists in their struggle for independence from Spain. In 1825 he was appointed the first United States minister to the Republic of Mexico.

The Tribute Roll (3) is a facsimile of one of six sheets deposited by Poinsett as the originals were repatriated in 1942 to the National Museum of Archaeology, History and Ethnography of Mexico, in order “that they may complete the original Codex of which they were once a part, and which is preserved in the collections of that museum.”

Pictures in a tribute roll are designated as the catalog of the tributes paid to Montezuma, their amounts and species and the people by whom they were paid. Sheets that were in the possession of the APS represented tributes paid by Tlatelulco, Tepethaplalco, Tlauhquitepee, Tuxpa, Tazco and others.

The two books (4) are early Mexican publications about the language of the Aztec and Tarascan people. They were a gift from José Joaquin de Ferrer (APS 1801), an astronomer from Cadiz, Spain who worked in the United States and South America.

1.Guiellermo Dupaix, Viages sobre las Antiquedades Mejicanas, 1805-1807 Manuscript introduction of  Segunda (second)  Real Expedición (1806)
Born in Austro-Hungary in 1748 or 1750, Guiellermo Dupaix became one of the first Europeans to observe and describe the archaeological riches of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Yucatan (Mexico). Between 1805 and 1807 he lead three Royal expeditions to survey major Mexican archaeological sites, working in close contact with José Luciano Castañeda, an artist with the National Museum. Among the sites they visited were the Mayan ruins at Palenque, the Zapotec/Mixtec site at Mitla, and several Aztec sites.  The APS version of Viages…is one of several contemporary manuscript copies made by Dupaix. The work consists of two volumes, the first containing the text, the second, contemporary manuscript copies of Castañeda’s illustrations.

2.    Sketches by José Luciano Castañeda.
Three of almost 300 ink wash sketches, pencil rubbings and watercolors of Dupaix’s expedition sites, which include bas-reliefs of animals, men, geometric designs interspersed with pyramids, fortifications, masks, idols and diagrams of tombs and buildings. These sketches along with text in English were reproduced by Edward King, viscount Kingborough, Antiquities of Mexico (1831).   These volumes were given to the APS by Joel R. Poinsett (APS 1827), diplomat and statesman.

3. Tribute Roll of Montezuma.
Facsimile image from Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series Vol 17, 1893, The Tribute Roll of Montezuma by Dr. Daniel G. Brinton.

Six original sheets from the Tribute Roll and Calendar of Montezuma had been in the APS Library since 1830. In 1942 the Tribute Roll and Calendar were returned to the National Museum of Archeology, History and Ethnography of Mexico.

4. Early Mexican grammars of Indian languages
Antonio del  Rincon.  Arte Mexicana.  (Mexico : Casa de Pedro, Balli), 1595 (open)
Diego Besalenque. Arte de la lengua Tarasca…(Mexico : Calderon), 1714    (closed)

Click here to view all images from Case 1. sketch 2sketch 3Mexican grammarsMexican grammars 2