The ''Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for "Little Book of the Medicinal Herbs of the Indians") is an

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

herbal

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

, describing the

medicinal properties Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients". The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of t ...

of various plants used by the Aztecs. It was translated into Latin by

Juan Badiano Juan Badiano (1484-after 1552) was the translator of Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis ca. 1552, from Nahuatl to Latin. The book was a compendium of 250 medicinal herbs used by the Aztecs. This compilation was originally done by Martin de la ...

, from a

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...

original composed in the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco in 1552 by Martín de la Cruz that is no longer extant. The ''Libellus'' is also known as the Badianus Manuscript, after the translator; the Codex de la Cruz-Badiano, after both the original author and translator; and the Codex Barberini, after

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

Francesco Barberini, who had possession of the manuscript in the early 17th century. The Badianus Manuscript of 1552 is the first illustrated and descriptive scientific text of

Nahua The Nahuas () are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico and second largest in El Salvador. The Mexica (Aztecs) were of Nahua ethnicity, a ...

medicine and botany produced in the Americas. It is a significant text in the

history of botany The history of botany examines the human effort to understand life on Earth by tracing the historical development of the discipline of botany—that part of natural science dealing with organisms traditionally treated as plants. Rudimentary b ...

and the

history of medicine The history of medicine is both a study of medicine throughout history as well as a multidisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand medical practices, both past and present, throughout human societies. More than just histo ...

History

In 1552 Jacobo de Grado, the

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

in charge of the Convent of Tlatelolco and the College of Santa Cruz, had the herbal created and translated for Don Francisco de Mendoza, son of Don Antonio de Mendoza, the

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...

. Mendoza sent the Latin manuscript to Spain, where it was deposited into the royal library. There it presumably remained until the early 17th century, when it somehow came into the possession of Diego de Cortavila y Sanabria,

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

to King Philip IV. From Cortavila it travelled to the Italian Cardinal Francesco Barberini, possibly via intermediate owners. The manuscript remained in the Barberini library until 1902, when the Barberini library became part of the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

, and the manuscript along with it. Finally, in 1990 — over four centuries after it was sent to Spain —

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

returned the ''Libellus'' to Mexico, and it is now in the library of the

National Institute of Anthropology and History National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

.Bruce Byland, "Introduction," ''An Aztec Herbal: The Classic Codex of 1552,'' Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2000. A copy was made in the 17th century by

Cassiano dal Pozzo Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588 – 22 October 1657) was an Italian scholar and patron of arts. The secretary of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, he was an antiquary in the classicizing circle of Rome, and a long-term friend and patron of Nicolas Poussin, w ...

, the secretary of Cardinal Barberini. Dal Pozzo's collection, called his ''Museo Cartaceo'' ("Papers Museum"), was sold by his heirs to

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

, who sold it to his nephew, Cardinal Alessandro Albani, who himself sold it to

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

in 1762. Dal Pozzo's copy is now part of the Royal Library, Windsor. Another copy may have been made by Francesco de' Stelluti, but is now lost. Dal Pozzo and de' Stelluti were both members of the

Accademia dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the " Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in R ...

. There are several published editions of the manuscript, beginning with the one by William E. Gates in 1939, now reissued in an inexpensive edition by Dover Books. Gates acquired photographs of the manuscript in Latin and water color renderings of the botanical drawings. He published both the original Latin manuscript as well as his translation to English. The reissued edition of Gates's manuscript has a very useful introduction by Bruce Byland, recounting the publication history of the manuscript and subsequent scholarship. At the same time Gates was working on this publication, another was being prepared for publication by Emily Walcott Emmart. This resulted in a full-color facsimile publication, transcription, and translation to English, with notes and commentary. In 1964, an edition of the manuscript was published in full-color facsimile, with a translation of the Latin to Spanish. The manuscript has been mainly studied by scholars interested in

and

. In history of medicine, there has been some focus on the extent to which the manuscript might be incorporating aspects of European humoral theories of medicine or whether text is purely from the

viewpoint. According to a study by Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano, the Badianus herbal was prepared for the king of Spain to demonstrate the intellectual sophistication of the Nahuas which might have skewed the manuscript to emulating aspects of European culture. The botanical aspects of the manuscript are significant, showing that the Nahuas had a classification system that was indeed highly sophisticated. As with Book 11, "The Earthly Things" of the

Florentine Codex The ''Florentine Codex'' is a 16th-century ethnographic research study in Mesoamerica by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Sahagún originally titled it: ''La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España'' (in English: ''Th ...

by Franciscan

Bernardino de Sahagún Bernardino de Sahagún, OFM (; – 5 February 1590) was a Franciscan friar, missionary priest and pioneering ethnographer who participated in the Catholic evangelization of colonial New Spain (now Mexico). Born in Sahagún, Spain, in 1499, ...

, the Badianus manuscript gives the Nahuatl names of plants, an illustration of the example, and the uses for the plant. However, unlike the Florentine Codex, there is little emphasis on supernatural healing characteristics of the plants. The examples in the Badianus manuscript deal solely with the medical conditions and curative aspects of the plants. For example, in the Gates translation, subject headings for plants' curative powers include "Against stupidity of the mind,"

gainst Against may refer to: * ''Against'' (album), 1998 album by Brazilian metal band Sepultura ** "Against" (song) the title track song from the Sepultura album *Against (American band) Against (styled as AgainST) were an American crossover thras ...

"Goaty armpits of sick people," "Against lassitude," "Medicine to take away foul and fetid breath."William Gates, ''An Aztec Herbal: The Classic Codex of 1552.'' Mineola, NY: Dover Books 2000. For scholars interested in

women's health Women's health differs from that of men in many unique ways. Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not mer ...

, the Badianus manuscript has a whole chapter on "remedies for recent parturition, the menses, lotion of the internal parts, childbirth, tubercules of the breasts, ndmedicine for increasing milk flow." Various plants listed in the Badianus manuscript have psychoactive properties, examined by anthropologist Peter Furst.

Proposed connection with the Voynich Manuscript

In 2014, Arthur Tucker and Rexford Talbert published a paper claiming that some of the plant illustrations in the

Voynich Manuscript The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex hand-written in an otherwise unknown writing system, referred to as 'Voynichese'. The vellum on which it is written has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century (1404–1438), and stylistic ana ...

match plant illustrations from the ''Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis'', suggesting that the

originated in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

. This analysis has been criticized by noted

researchers, who suggest it is just a coincidence, as any large set of fictitious plant illustrations is bound to have several that resemble real plants.

Translations

References

External links

*{{commonscatinline, Codex de la Cruz-Badiano * PDF of William Gates' English translation Mesoamerican medicine Medical books Mesoamerican documents 1552 books Botany in North America Medicinal plants of North America Aztec society 16th-century Latin books Barberini family 1550s in New Spain Works about horticulture Translations into Latin

History

Proposed connection with the Voynich Manuscript

Translations

See also

References

External links