Epigraphy, Hieroglyphs, Languages & Linguistics

 

BERLIN, Heinrich, SIGNOS Y SIGNIFICACIONES EN LAS INSCRIPCIONES MAYAS. 10 tables of glyphs, 5 drawings, 197 p., the last great treatise on decipherment of hieroglyphic writing by the scholar who identified the Palenque Triad (GI, GII, GIII) and who first worked on emblem glyphs. A basic reference work for today's epigrapher.

BRUCE, Roberto, GRAMATICA DEL LACANDON , INAH, Mexico City, 152 p, includes art and archaeology with photographs and drawings of Lacandon incense burners never before published. This is far more than a grammar, it is a complete ethnography, especially rich in mythology an ideal source for interpreting polychrome Maya vases. A book such as this is essential for iconographers. Long out of print, we have a few new copies available.

 

CAMPBELL, Lyle, Bibliography of Mayan Languages and Linguistics will save you hours and hours of library research since it already lists the books and articles you need to find, 182 p., out of print.

 

CARDOS, de Mendez, Amalia, Estudio de la COLECCION DE ESCULTURA MAYA del MUSEO NACIONAL DE ANTROPOLOGIA, INAH. 167 photos, 190 small p.. Not a coffee taCble book but nonetheless "the" definitive corpus of all Maya sculpture not only on exhibit but also in the warehouses of INAH in Mexico City. A basic reference for the curator, epigrapher, iconographer, or individual who wishes to see the entire scope of Maya sculpture.

 

CLANCY, Flora S. & HARRISON, Peter, VISION & REVISION IN MAYA STUDIES, Hardcover, 25 pages of bibliography, 16 maps, 17 layouts and more than 70 drawings of glyphs, figures and murals, 5 photos, 248 p.

FELDMAN, Lawrence, Riverine Maya: The Torquegua and other chols of the Lower Motagua Valley (Museum briefs) out of print.

 

HARRISON, Peter, A JADE PENDANT FROM TIKAL (shows insides of royal tomb) and TIKAL: NORTH ACROPOLIS AND AN EARLY TOMB by Wm. Coe; photographs, drawings, and text provide readable description of how to find and professionally excavate a wealthy Preclassic burial. Expedition, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1963.

HOUSTON, Stephen D., Hieroglyphs and History at DOS Pilas: Dynastic Politics of the Classic Maya , chronology of the site and its lords, 16 maps, 12 tables & more than 20 illustrations. 181 p.

JUSTESON, John, and L. Campbell,PHONETICISM IN MAYAN HIEROGLYPHIC WRITING , the most important single book on how to read the Mayan glyphs in an easy phonetic manner; contains articles from the world's leading epigraphers. 389 p.

KNOROZOV, Yuri, MAYA HIEROGLYPHIC CODICES- PUBLICATION NO. 8 , 429 p of phonetic translations of the Maya codices from the Russian expert who first recognized how to use Bishop Landa's "alphabet" as a syllabic chart rather than a regular alphabet. An essential "bible" and dictionary for all who aspire to read Maya hieroglyphic writing. This was so popular it went into out of print status and is hard to find.

MORISHITA MUSEUM OF ART, MORISHITA MUSEUM CATALOG - 1976, 66 Color plates of artifacts, 70 B&W photos of maps, sites, artifacts and illustrations. Ignore the Japanese script and concentrate on the photographs, MAYA (lowland and highland, glyphs, polychrome, plates, bowls), Tiquisate incensario, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peruvian archaeology. Most of the Maya items have not been published anywhere else. This book is not sold in the USA or Europe by any other bookseller. We had to go to Japan to get it in person. 79 p.

NAKAMURA, Seiichi, Kazuo Aoyama, and Eiji Uratsuji, Investigaciones Arqueologicas en la Region de la Entrada , 3 volume report of the Japanese archaeological expedition northeast of Copan: ceramics, artifacts, sculpture, hieroglyphs (decipherments by Linda Schele).

 

PINA CHAN, R., CULTURA Y CIUDADES MAYAS DE CAMPECHE. 9 color photos, 129 B+W, 14 drawings (maps, tables, charts, illustrations), features Chenes and Rio Bec monumental architecture. Pina Chan was in charge of excavations at Xpuhil, Becan, and other sites. government subsidized coffee table book, hardbound, 199 p.

 

Primer Simposio Mundial Sobre Epigrafia Maya dedicado al Dr. Heinrich Berlin y a la Memoria de Tatiana Proskouriakoff 1909-1985 , with articles by Clemency Coggins, Christopher Jones on decipherment of inscriptions at Tikal as well as the only published illustrations of the just discovered incredible early architectural facade masks of Uaxactun much nicer sculpture than the famous E- VII-sub! Includes complete epigraphy and iconography of the remarkable Teotihuacan style portable ballcourt marker recently found at Tikal Early with lots of glyphs.

 

PROSKOURIAKOFF, Tatiana, MAYA HISTORY, Hardcover, about 150 pages w/glyphs and descriptions and chronology of art of Classic period (250-900AD), 14 line drawings of monuments, more than 300 original glyphs drawings, 211 p.

RIESE, Berthold, NOTICIAS ARQUEOLOGICAS DE TABASCO various articles including on Olmec, by Berthold Riese on Torteguero glyphs, graffiti of Comalcalco, 65 p., edition limited to 250 copies, out of print.

 

ROBICSEK, Francis, The Maya Book of the Dead The Ceramic Codex , hundreds and hundreds of Justin Kerr photographs of Maya vases, deities, iconography, decipherment of hieroglyphs especially Primary Standard Sequence,

Satterthwaite, L., MAYA PRACTICE STONE CARVING AT PIEDRAS NEGRAS The only article available which illustrates how the Maya organized the glyph columns on the stelae. Fascinating reading. Expedition, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1965.

SHOOK, Edwin, and Alfred Kidder; THE PAINTED TOMB AT TIKAL description and photographs of discovery of the only major tomb at Tikal that had murals. This is the tomb mentioned in comparison with the recently discovered Rio Azul tomb murals; in same issue, "LORDS OF THE MAYA REALM" by Tatiana Proskouriakoff, describes how she deciphered the Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions at Piedras Negras. Vol. 4, No. 1, 1961.

SOTELO SANTOS, Laura Elena, YAXCHILAN, 190 thick pages with 57 color photographs of a quality better than in any other publication on Yaxchilan. These particular photographs far exceed those in any book on Yaxchilan printed in the USA or Europe, and are even better than Maler's or Maudslay's photographs in part because they are in color. This particular Mexican photographer was clearly a pro.

STONE, Andrea J., IMAGES FROM THE UNDERWORLD, Naj Tunich and the Tradition of Maya Cave Painting, more than 200 photos, illustrations & maps showing Maya cave art, w/12 color plates, hardcover, 284 p.

TEDLOCK, Dennis (translator), POPUL VUH THE DEFINITIVE EDITION OF THE MAYAN BOOK OF THE DAWN OF LIFE AND THE GLORIES OF GODS AND KINGS 126 pages of descriptive references, 27 page glossary of names & terms, index of 64 illustrations, 388 p.

THE CHULTUNS OF TIKAL by Dennis Puleston together with PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENT AT TIKAL, GUATEMALA by W. Haviland. Photographs, drawings, and explanation of excavations dedicated to the daily life of the ancient Maya. Expedition, Vol. 7, No. 3, 1965.

 

THE SPLENDID TOMB OF TEMPLE I AT TIKAL, GUATEMALA and "NOTE ON HIEROGLYPHS ON BONE FROM THE TOMB BELOW TEMPLE I" and TIKAL GRAFFITI, Expedition, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1963.

THOMPSON, J. Eric S., Maya Hieroglyphs without Tears , small primer, one copy left.

UNAM, MEMORIAS DEL PRIMER COLOQUIO INTERNACIONAL DE MAYANISTAS, 1985. 56 maps, 242 figs, 1146 p. This is the most comprehensive set of articles on recent discoveries in Maya art, iconography, epigraphy, and archaeology to appear in recent years. Includes Tikal, Tulum, Belize, Cacaxtla, and two new sculptures just discovered at Bonampak.

 

Union Academique Internationale, Corpus Antiquitatum Americanensium, INAH, Mexico. Vol. VI ESCULTURAS ASOCIADAS DEL VALLE DE OAXACA portfolio (corners torn, edges rubbed) drawings of stelae by Andy Seuffert, text, Ignacio BERNAL. 29 p. Sp. and English text.

 

VILLACORTA & VILLACORTA,Codices Mayas Reproducidos Y Desarollado , the three main Maya codices (Paris, Madrid, and Dresden), in handsome line drawings. Most epigraphers use these drawings rather than the color facsimiles, since the details of the gods and glyphs are so much clearer. We have the actual Guatemalan printing, not a fuzzy reprint or fuzzy xerox (where it is hard to see the iconographic details). This book is long out of print, even in Guatemala.

 

Von Winning, Hasso, Two Maya Monuments in Yucatan: The Palace of the Stuccoes at Acanceh and the Temple of the Owls at Chichen Itza (Frederick Webb Hodge Anniversary Publication Fund) , 99 B&W photos, drawings and illustrations, 95 p.

YASUGI, Yoshiho (commentary), ORNAMENTS OF THE WORLD, VOL. 5, The Continent of America, native art of the Americas, 408 photographs & drawings, has 51 color and 38 B&W photos of Maya ceramics, not counting Maya murals, architecture, sculpture, plus non-Maya cultures of America.
The Guatemalan textiles are especially handsomely rendered in color which only the Japanese can so stunningly print. There are hieroglyphic inscriptions shown that are not published in any other book. Thus for epigraphers this book is a useful reference to allow keeping up to date with what is available to study from the F.L.A.A.R. Photo Archive. More of Hellmuth's Maya photographs are here than in any other book available this decade. Only a few of these ancient Maya ceramics have been published elsewhere. In other words, the majority of these pictures are not available in any other book and only about 7% of the Maya art in this book is found in books by Coe, Robicsek, or even Kerr.
Since the book is in Japanese, we have captions available in English (which will accompany your order). These captions are by Hellmuth and constitute a review of his advances in iconography based on the immense F.L.A.A.R. Photo Archive.

 

New page format posted October 30, 2009