View source for Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis

{{Short description|Aztec herbal manuscript of 1552}}
{{italic title}}
[[Image:Badianus.jpg|thumb|right|A page of the ''Libellus'' illustrating the ''tlahçolteoçacatl, tlayapaloni, axocotl'' and ''chicomacatl'' plants, used to make a remedy for ''lęsum & male tractatum corpus'', "injured and badly treated body"]]
The '''''Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis''''' ([[Latin]] for "Little Book of the Medicinal Herbs of the Indians") is an [[Aztec]] herbal [[manuscript]], describing the [[herbalism|medicinal properties]] of various plants used by the Aztecs. It was translated into Latin by [[Juan Badiano]], from a [[Nahuatl language|Nahuatl]] original composed in the [[Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco]] in 1552 by Martín de la Cruz that is no longer extant. The ''Libellus'' is also known as the '''Badianus Manuscript''', after the translator; the '''Codex de la Cruz-Badiano''', after both the original author and translator; and the '''Codex Barberini''', after [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Francesco Barberini (seniore)|Francesco Barberini]], who had possession of the manuscript in the early 17th century.
The Badianus Manuscript of 1552 is the first illustrated and descriptive scientific text of [[Nahua peoples|Nahua]] medicine and botany produced in the Americas. It is a significant text in the [[history of botany]] and the [[history of medicine]].
==History==
In 1552 Jacobo de Grado, the [[friar]] in charge of the Convent of Tlatelolco and the [[Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco|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, [[pharmacy|pharmacist]] to [[Philip IV of Spain|King Philip IV]]. From Cortavila it travelled to the Italian Cardinal [[Francesco Barberini (seniore)|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]].<ref name="Byland">Bruce Byland, "Introduction," ''An Aztec Herbal: The Classic Codex of 1552,'' Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2000.</ref>{{rp|iii}}
A copy was made in the 17th century by [[Cassiano dal Pozzo]], the secretary of Cardinal Barberini. Dal Pozzo's collection, called his ''Museo Cartaceo'' ("Papers Museum"), was sold by his heirs to [[Pope Clement XI]], who sold it to his nephew, Cardinal [[Alessandro Albani]], who himself sold it to [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]] in 1762. Dal Pozzo's copy is now part of the [[Royal Library, Windsor]]. Another copy may have been made by Francesco de' Stelluti, but is now lost. Dal Pozzo and de' Stelluti were both members of the [[Accademia dei Lincei]].
There are several published editions of the manuscript, beginning with the one by [[William E. Gates]] in 1939, now reissued in an inexpensive edition by Dover Books.<ref>William Gates, ''The de la Cruz-Badiano Aztec Herbal of 1552.'' Baltimore: The Maya Society, Publication No. 22, 1939.</ref><ref name="Gates"/> Gates acquired photographs of the manuscript in Latin and water color renderings of the botanical drawings. He published both the original Latin manuscript as well as his translation to English. The reissued edition of Gates's manuscript has a very useful introduction by Bruce Byland, recounting the publication history of the manuscript and subsequent scholarship.<ref name="Byland"/>{{rp|iii–xiii}}
At the same time Gates was working on this publication, another was being prepared for publication by Emily Walcott Emmart.  This resulted in a full-color facsimile publication, transcription, and translation to English, with notes and commentary.<ref>Emily Walcott Emmart, ''The Badianus Manuscript (Codex Barberini Latin 241): An Aztec Herbal of 1552''.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1940.</ref>  In 1964, an edition of the manuscript was published in full-color facsimile, with a translation of the Latin to Spanish.<ref>Martín de la Cruz, ''Libellus de medicinalibus  indorum herbis: Manuscrito Azteca de 1552: versión española con estudios y comentarios por diversos autores''. Mexico: Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social 1964.</ref>
The manuscript has been mainly studied by scholars interested in [[history of medicine]] and [[history of botany]]. In history of medicine, there has been some focus on the extent to which the manuscript might be incorporating aspects of European humoral theories of medicine or whether text is purely from the [[Nahua peoples|Nahua]] viewpoint.<ref>Debra Hassig, "Transplanted medicine: Colonial Mexican Herbals of the sixteenth century." RES: The journal of anthropology and aesthetics 17/18. Spring/Autumn 1989, pp. 30-53.</ref> According to a study by Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano, the Badianus herbal was prepared for the king of Spain to demonstrate the intellectual sophistication of the Nahuas which might have skewed the manuscript to emulating aspects of European culture.<ref>Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano, ''Aztec Medicine, health, and nutrition,'' New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press 1990.</ref>
The botanical aspects of the manuscript are significant, showing that the Nahuas had a classification system that was indeed highly sophisticated.<ref>Faustino Miranda and Javier Valdés, "Comentarios botánicos," in ''Libellus de Medicnialibus Indorum'' by Martin de la Cruz. Mexico, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, 1964, pp. 243-284.</ref><ref>Blas P. Reko, "Nombres botaánicos del Manuscrito Badiano," Sociedad Botánico de México, Vol. V: 23-43.</ref> As with Book 11, "The Earthly Things" of the [[Florentine Codex]] by Franciscan [[Bernardino de Sahagún]], the Badianus manuscript gives the Nahuatl names of plants, an illustration of the example, and the uses for the plant. However, unlike the Florentine Codex, there is little emphasis on supernatural healing characteristics of the plants. The examples in the Badianus manuscript deal solely with the medical conditions and curative aspects of the plants. For example, in the Gates translation, subject headings for plants' curative powers include "Against stupidity of the mind," [against] "Goaty armpits of sick people," "Against lassitude," "Medicine to take away foul and fetid breath."<ref name="Gates">William Gates, ''An Aztec Herbal: The Classic Codex of 1552.'' Mineola, NY: Dover Books 2000.</ref>  For scholars interested in [[women's health]], the Badianus manuscript has a whole chapter on "remedies for recent parturition, the menses, lotion of the internal parts, childbirth, tubercules of the breasts, [and] medicine for increasing milk flow."<ref name="Gates"/>{{rp|105}} Various plants listed in the Badianus manuscript have psychoactive properties, examined by anthropologist Peter Furst.<ref>Peter Furst, "This Little Books of Herbs: Psychoactive plants as therapeutic agents in the Badianus Manuscript of 1552." In R. Schultes and S. von Reis, eds. ''Ethnobotany: Evolution of the Discipline.'' Portland, OR: Discorides Press 1995, pp. 108-130.</ref>
==Proposed connection with the Voynich Manuscript==
In 2014, Arthur Tucker and Rexford Talbert published a paper claiming that some of the plant illustrations in the [[Voynich Manuscript]] match plant illustrations from the ''Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis'', suggesting that the [[Voynich Manuscript]] originated in the [[New World]]. This analysis has been criticized by noted [[Voynich Manuscript]] researchers,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2014/01/21/brand-new-new-world-nahuatl-voynich-manuscript-theory |title=A Brand New New World / Nahuatl Voynich Manuscript Theory… |last1=Pelling |first1=Nick |authorlink1= Nick Pelling |date=14 January 2014 |website=Cipher Mysteries |publisher= |accessdate=22 January 2014}}</ref> who suggest it is just a coincidence, as any large set of fictitious plant illustrations is bound to have several that resemble real plants.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24987-mexican-plants-could-break-code-on-gibberish-manuscript.html |title=Mexican plants could break code on gibberish manuscript |last1=Grossman |first1=Lisa |date= February 3, 2014 |website=[[New Scientist]] |accessdate=2014-02-05}}</ref>
==Translations==
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Language !! Title !! Translator !! Publisher
|-
| 1939 || English || The De la Cruz-Badiano Aztec Herbal of 1552 || [[William E. Gates|William Gates]] || The Maya Society
|-
| 1940 || English || The Badianus Manuscript (Codex Barberini Latin 241): An Aztec Herbal of 1552 || Emily Walcott Emmart || The Johns Hopkins Press
|-
| 1952 || Spanish || Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis: El manuscrito pictórico mexicano-latino de Martín de la Cruz y Juan Badiano de 1552 || Francisco Guerra || Editorial Vargas Rea y El Diario Español
|-
| 1964, 1991 || Spanish || Libellus  de medicinalibus indorum herbis: Manuscrito Azteca de 1552: versión Española con estudios y comentarios por diversos autores ({{ISBN|968-16-3607-4}}) || || Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social
|-
| 2000 || English || An Aztec Herbal: The Classic Codex of 1552 ({{ISBN|0-486-41130-3}}) || William Gates || Dover (republication of 1939 edition)
|}
==See also==
*[[Aztec entheogenic complex]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{commonscatinline|Codex de la Cruz-Badiano}}
*[[:File:The De la Cruz-Badiano Aztec Herbal of 1552.pdf|PDF of William Gates' English translation]]
{{Aztec mythology}}
[[Category:Mesoamerican medicine]]
[[Category:Medical books]]
[[Category:Mesoamerican documents]]
[[Category:1552 books]]
[[Category:Botany in North America]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants of North America]]
[[Category:Aztec society]]
[[Category:16th-century books in Latin]]
[[Category:Barberini family]]
[[Category:1550s in New Spain]]
[[Category:Works about horticulture]]
[[Category:Translations into Latin]]