“Lienzo” means “canvas” or “piece of cloth” in Spanish

The original Lienzo de Tlaxcala was a painted cotton sheet approximately 2 meters wide and 5 meters long. It was probably created around 1552. A large scene at the top depicted the political structure of the Central…

“Codex” comes from the Latin “caudex” (“book,” “tree trunk,” “idiot”).

The Codex Nuttall is 11.22 meters in length, and is folded into 47 “pages” measuring approximately 24.3 by 18.4 cm. It was probably created around 1500. The codex is painted on both sides. These two different…

“Matrícula” means “register” or “enrollment” in Spanish.

The Matrícula de Tributos (“Register of Tribute”) consists of 16 sheets (“folios”) of paper made from the bark of the amate tree. Although some of the early folios are heavily damaged, whole sheets measure…

The Molina Vocabulario was the first dictionary printed in the Americas.

Fray Alonso de Molina’s Vocabulario en la lengua Castellana y Mexicana was published in 1555 at the Mexico City printing house of Juan Pablos. It consists of a title page (with a woodcut showing Saint Francis…

The Codex Selden records over 500 years of Native American history.

The Codex Selden is approximately 5.5 meters in length, and is folded into twenty “pages” approximately 27.5 by 27.5 cm. It was probably created around 1560. As it is currently preserved, only one side of the codex…