A Study of the Manuscript Troano/Chapter 1
A STUDY OF THE MANUSCRIPT TROANO.
BY CYRUS THOMAS.
CHAPTER I.
THE MANUSCRIPT AND ITS CHARACTER.
This manuscript was found about the year 1866[1] at Madrid, Spain, by the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, while on a visit to the library of the Royal Historical Academy, and named by him "Manuscript Troano," in honor of its possessor, Don Juan de Tro y Ortolano.
So far as I am aware, nothing more is known in reference to its history; we are not even informed by its last owner where or how he obtained it. In ordinary cases this would be sufficient to arouse our suspicions as to its genuineness, but in this case the work itself is sufficient to dispel all such suspicions, a fact which will become apparent to the reader before reaching the end of the present paper.
This work was reproduced in fac-simile by a chromolithographic process, by the Commission Scientifique du Mexique under the auspices of the French Government, Brasseur being the editor.
The original is written on a strip of Maguey paper about 14 feet long and 9 inches wide, the surface of which is covered with a white paint or varnish, on which the characters and figures are painted in black, red, blue, and brown It is folded fan-like into thirty-five folds, presenting, when these are pressed together, the appearance of an ordinary octavo volume. The hieroglyphics and figures cover both sides of the paper, forming seventy pages; the writing and painting of the figures having been executed, apparently, after the paper was folded, so that this does not interfere with the writing.
The fac-simile edition is divided into two parts, paged separately; the first part containing thirty-five pages or plates, numbered with simple Roman numerals from I to XXXV; the second with Roman numerals accompanied by a star, thus: XII*; but this part has only thirty-four pages, numbered I* to XXXIV*; the first plate, which appears to be—as Brasseur has designated it—the "title page," is not numbered.
The two parts I presume are made to correspond with the two sides of the original; the title page being at the end of one side and forming the page on the first fold.
The lines and columns of written characters are uniformly black, some of the numeral characters red, others black; the pictorial portions are usually red, brown, or blue, but occasionally varied with black, and often simply outline figures. The background of the compartments or spaces on which the figures are painted is usually white, but in some cases it is blue, in others, brown or red. Several of the plates are more or less damaged, all of the imperfections, as it is claimed, being reproduced in the fac-simile edition.
Our colored plates, which are reproduced from the fac-simile work, will give the reader an idea of the characters and figures.
It is admitted by all who have made the comparison, that the written characters belong to the same class as those given by Landa.
Although there are numerous variations, and also some characters in the manuscript not given by him, yet most of his letter and day characters, especially the latter, can be found identical in form and details. As proof of this I give here the following examples of exact copies after Landa and the Manuscript:
This fact is sufficient of itself to authorize us to pronounce it a Maya document, a conclusion which we shall find strengthened as we proceed in our examination of its contents.
As what is known in regard to Mexican and Central American writings has been presented by Dr. Brinton in the Introduction, I will not go over the same ground here, but will confine myself to the special object in view, to wit: an explanation and discussion of what I believe to be real discoveries made daring my examination of the contents of this work.
As before stated, an examination of this manuscript is sufficient to convince any one at all familiar with Landa's characters that those here used are substantially the same, be their signification what it may. On almost every page are to be found columns of characters agreeing precisely with those given by him as representing the Maya days. These are generally placed at the left of the compartments or spaces containing the figures, and as a general rule there are five characters in a column. Another prominent feature is the great number of numeral characters—dots and short straight lines. These are found on every plate, often dozens on a single page.
The frequent occurrence of these day and numeral characters, often in connection, led to the belief that the work was a kind of religious calendar, a belief strongly supported by the character of the figures in the spaces. With this as the only opinion to hamper or aid me, as the case might be, I began the study of the Manuscript.
I was convinced that if I could form a correct idea of the general design of the work it would aid greatly in deciphering its characters. As the day and numeral characters seemed to afford the most direct road to this desired result, I began with these.
Brasseur de Bourbourg has designated the day columns "legends," believing them to contain a summary of what is written, or represented by the figures in the compartments to which they severally belong. That they are characters representing the Maya days he admitted, but as the names of these characters have each one or more significations, it was his belief that they were used to express this signification, and not simply as the names of days. To be able to decide positively whether this opinion of the Abbe's was correct or not, would, I felt, be taking one important step toward ascertaining the contents of this mysterious document, as these day columns form a considerable part of it.
The frequent occurrence of numerals in connection with these day characters appeared to indicate dates or the numbering of days, somewhat as we find them in our ordinary calendars.
How to verify or disprove this inference was the first problem that presented itself
- ↑ I cannot find that the exact date of the discovery is given anywhere. Bancroft says "about 1865," but a careful examination of Brasseur's Introduction satisfies me it was at least as late as 1866.