The Complete Codex Zouche-Nuttall

Robert Williams’s book is a close systematic reading of one of the most important manuscripts of Pre-Columbian art and writing known to us. Unlike the majority of other great Oaxacan manuscripts, the Zouche-Nuttall has not had an extensive and sophisticated commentary in English in the recent scholarship. Instead, the sole recent commentary is in Spanish and is published in a very limited edition bound together with an expensive facsimile. Thus, the present book will immediately function as the key English-language commentary on a major part of the codex and as the major recent synthetic commentary in any language. Rex Koontz, Associate Professor of Art, University of Houston; author of Lightning Gods and Feathered Serpents: The Public Sculpture of El Tajín

For a number of years, Williams has guided a select group of students and scholars through the Mixtec codices in a series of fascinating seminars at the University of Texas. With the publication of this book, a whole new generation of students, specialists, and the interested public have access to the remarkable knowledge of this scholar. This book represents a major undertaking, tackling the oft-ignored and challenging obverse side of the codex. Unlike earlier scholars who dismissed perplexing passages or attributed them to scribal mistakes, Williams offers a convincing rationale for the manipulation of reading order, showing how the ancient scribes incorporated repetition in history to justify political events. Williams effectively brings this hand-painted book to life, allowing us to imagine the bards of the past who used such codices to perform the heroics of their rulers, thereby keeping the past alive. Annabeth Headrick, Associate Professor of Art History, University of Denver; author of The Teotihuacan Trinity: The Sociopolitical Structure of an Ancient Mesoamerican City