The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Reproduction of the Pre-Columbian Mexican Manuscript

Carlos E. Sandoval: Una buena idea de regalo para gente que sienta interés por este tipo de cosas.

Mexico on Dec 20, 2023

Margarita: Llegó a tiempo y en buen estado

United States on Sep 02, 2023

yo: Imágenes grandes a todo color y explicación de las mismas. Perfecto.

Spain on Aug 01, 2023

scott: The detail of the pictures was very smooth, colors were as they should be. Very happy to read this picture book

United States on Jun 04, 2023

Bara: This book is full of artful and colorful drawings from the ancient Mexican books. It shows their habits, sacred rituals, clothing, and symbols. The images are delightful, some cruel as it was the custom before Christ taught Love. This custom has not changed even in Christian countries: Animals are treated brutally in facfarms and medlabs, although Christ died for the animals as "Lamb of God."

United States on Nov 18, 2022

chikawayolotzin: Take a class that requires the Codex Borgia otherwise you won't understand it. Even if you're interested or curious about ancient cultures of mexico, that's irrelevant. This book should be sold for classroom use only but it's not so there are long-winded negative reviews. Take a class.

United States on Nov 10, 2022

Steve Hammond: This is an amazing reconstruction of the original Codex Borgia, hand painted on deer skin over years of dedicated care and attention.

The artwork is brimming with detail that is absurd, violent, disturbing, amusing and beautiful, I see something new everytime I browse the 76 colour plates. It depicts gods, a 260 day calendar, calendrical relationships between gods, places and directions to name a few. It is clearly brimming with detail that was all highly relevant and sacred to its original readers.

A begrudging complaint is that this book's commentary does not go into any deep detail about all of this visual detail. In its defence the book never claims to give an in depth commentary but if you are buying it for that purpose you may be disappointed. It does provide a bibliography to pursue further reading but seeing as this was published in 1993 I don't know how widely or cheaply available much of this material is.

The commentary is however serviceable and gives you a basic outline of what your brain is trying to comprehend as you scan the menagerie of animated figures and creatures within its pages. There is an earnest attempt to explain the 260 day calendar...

United Kingdom on Jun 26, 2018

A CANADIAN BUYER: Beautiful and interesting Codex

Canada on Dec 26, 2017

Leslecturesdophechups: Livre en anglais, prix un peu cher à mon goût... certes, mais tout cela est vite oublié face à la qualité de la reproduction et les bonnes analyses.
En format papier, c'est quand même bien plus confortable pour regarder, scruter, analyser le moindre détail et comprendre peu à peu les mystères de ce magnifique codex.

France on Oct 05, 2016

humblebumble: Be warned that you must compare the images from this reproduction to the original, for three reasons: 1) sometimes the authors of this reproduction use colors that do not match the original codex, 2) sometimes the authors of this reproduction place the wrong imagery in the reproduction, for example a monkey's head instead of a humans head, and 3)Sometimes the authors speculate as to what might have been on a page and they use their own judgment, which might be wrong.

Other than that, this is a great reproduction of the Borgia codex. It is cheap, it is light and it is well made. Another thing to keep in mind, the codex borgia is read left to right, this reproduction was printed right to left, so it forces you to read the codex in the wrong direction.

Look at the "plate number" and the page number in the book, they do not match. Also notice that the plate number is in descending order.

Update Edit: 2017 -- I still own this book, though I do not use it super often. I would recommend this as a cheap and easy to buy version of the Borgia, just keep in mind that it is not 100% accurate compared to the original. If you have the money, and you can find a copy, your...

United States on Feb 28, 2011