CHAPTER XVII

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THE AZTEC PICTURE-WRITING.

Hieroglyphic Records -- The Native Books -- Authorities -- Destruction of the Native Archives by Zumárraga and his Confrères -- Picture-Writings used after the Conquest for Confession and Law-Suits -- Value of the Records -- Documents sent to Spain in the Sixteenth Century -- European Collections -- Lord Kingsborough's Work -- Picture-Writings retained in Mexico -- Collections of Ixtlilxochitl, Sigüenza, Gemelli Careri, Boturini, Veytia, Leon y Gama, Pichardo, Aubin, and the National Museum of Mexico -- Process of Hieroglyphic Development -- Representative, Symbolic, and Phonetic Picture-Writing -- Origin of Modern Alphabets -- The Aztec System -- Specimen from the Codex Mendoza -- Specimen from Gemelli Careri -- Specimen from the Boturini Collection -- Probable future Success of Interpreters -- The Nepohualtzitzin 523

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