Chimalpilli in the Amoxcalli

Royal scribe Chimalpilli frequently visits the libraries of Tenochtitlan and Tetzcoco to research and copy codices.

Although there were thousands of books (amoxtin) in the Mexica Empire's archieves/libraries (amoxcalli), the vast majority of them were destroyed by the Spanish conquistadores and priests. Colonial indigenous and mestizo historians grieved the loss of these precious documents. According to Don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl:

“Time changed all of this. With the fall of the kings and lords mentioned above, the travails and persecutions of their descendants, and the calamity suffered by their subjects and vassals, not only did they abandon what was good and not contrary to our Catholic faith, but the majority of their histories were recklessly and heedlessly burned by order of the first friars. This was one of the greatest losses suffered in this New Spain. All of the aforementioned books, texts, and materials were kept in the royal archives in the city of Tetzcoco, as it was the center of all their knowledge, traditions, and mores, because its kings prided themselves on this, and they were the lawmakers of this new world.” (‘Historia de la nación chichimeca’, fol.1r~1v)

As a result, this drawing is largely hypothetical. We know virtually nothing about the libraries themselves. For example, how were codices stored? Given the form of the Mesoamerican codices which is a long strip of paper folded like an accordion -similar to the modern pamplet-, I believe some sort of bookcase was used, particularly in archives that keep a large number of documents.

Mesoamerican codices, unlike European books, do not have hard covers and spines, therefore they could not be stored vertically. East Asian books were placed horizontally because they also did not had hard covers, so I applied that way in the drawing. I added the bookmarks to make it easier to identify each codex stacked on top of each other. As you can see, this is a guesswork based on little evidence.

Fortunately, we know much more about the writing tools used by scribes. Nahua codices portray tlacuilo (painter/scribe) holding a needle-like writing implement. Classic period Maya vases also have a few drawings of scribes using various brushes and quills. Most researchers on the topic agree that ‘Mesoamerican scribes had access to a full set of professional drawing instruments, each appropriate for a specific purpose’, ranging from rabbit hair brushes, quills, and thin reed styluses. Cut nautilus shell was used as a palette because of its segmented sections.

For the codices that Chimalpilli is copying, I represented various types of amoxtin written by the imperial officials. Matricula de Tributos is a tribute list; Codex Telleriano Remensis and Codex Mendoza are going to represent the history books (conquest lists); Mapa Xolotl is the map (depicted as a lienzo [large cloth]); and Codex Borbonicus is a ritual calendar. These codices are made in the early colonial period, but their style is quite faithful to their pre-Hispanic precursors.