Memorias sobre la pintura didáctica y la escritura figurativa de los antiguos mexicanos

Edited by Patrice Giasson, this publication is a Spanish translation from the French of a study conducted by the French collector on Nahua writing. It is one of the first studies of Náhuatl glyph writing. Aubin lived in Mexico, during which time he became an enthusiastic collector of manuscripts and scholars of pre-hispanic cultures, particularly their languages. This study provides a description of the documents in his collection, some of which belong to the Boturini Collection, which includes both materials in Spanish and Náhuatl manuscripts with Latin characters and what he calls “paintings.” Aubin identifies some obstacles to reading the glyphs in the Nahua manuscripts described in this study that are still regarded as relevant. His study shows that there are various forms of Nahua writing that have to do with the various types of documents produced and he holds that Náhuatl was becoming a syllabic form of writing.