Yucatan Before and After the Conquest

Description

Friar de Landa did more than any man to wipe out Maya culture and civilization. In the famous auto da fé of July 1562 at Maní he tells us he destroyed 5,000 “idols” and burned 27 hieroglyphic books. Yet, ironically, his book Relacion de las cosas de Yucatan, translated in this edition by the Maya Scholar William Gates, is considered the basic book on Maya studies, and contains a wealth of information. Gates states that 99% of what we know about the Mayas is a result of this work or learned in the use and study of what he told. This book was written by de Llanda as a rsult of charges against him of despotic management. This book was originally published in 1937 as a # 20 limited edition by the Maya Society of Baltimore. Mineola, NY, 1978 Dover Publications, Inc. Reprint, 162 Pgs., PB.