Rig Veda Americanus: Sacred Songs Of The Ancient Mexicans, With A Gloss In Nahuatl

Rig Veda Americanus: Sacred Songs Of The Ancient Mexicans, With A Gloss In Nahuatl

By Daniel G. Brinton


As in a previous number of the Library of Aboriginal American Literature I have discussed in detail the character of the ancient Mexican poetry, I shall confine myself at present to the history of the present collection. We owe its preservation to the untiring industry of Father Bernardino de Sahagun, one of the earliest missionaries to Mexico, and the author of by far the most important work on the religion, manners and customs of the ancient Mexicans.


By long residence and close application Sahagun acquired a complete mastery of the Nahuatl tongue. He composed his celebrated Historia de las Casas de la Nueva España primarily in the native language, and from this original wrote out a Spanish translation, in some parts considerably abbreviated. This incomplete reproduction is that which was published in Spanish by Lord Kingsborough and Bustamente, and in a French rendering with useful notes by Dr. Jourdanet and M. Rémi Simeon…