MS 7299 Fraudulent Mexican hieroglyphic manuscript
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: NAA MS 7299

USNM Accession Number 61457

USNM Catalog Number 300298
name: label: Collector
content: Browne, Herbert J.
place: label: Place
content: North America
label: Place
content: Mexico
creator: label: Collector
content: Browne, Herbert J.
culture: label: Culture
content: Maya
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Herbert Janvrin Browne (1861-1936) was a U.S. government inspector and meteorologist who traveled widely in Latin America.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 11 Leaves (painting on parchment (possibly goatskin), 4.5 x 6 inches)
unitdate: label: Date
content: undated
container: label: Container
content: Box 7299
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: The manuscript was purchased by the United States National Museum from Herbert J. Brown in 1917. The accession papers state that it is a "work of recent times."  The Department of Anthropology accession records and catalog card also indicate that the document included twelve "pages" (i.e., leaves). However, only eleven leaves are in the current collection.

In 1976, the manuscript was verified to be a falsified document by Clifford Evans (Curator of Latin American Archaeology, Museum of Natural History), Howard Cline (Director, Hispanic Foundation, Library of Congress), and John B. Glass (Consultant for the Library of Congress on Mexican pictorial documents).

The manuscript was transferred from the object collections of the Department of Anthropology to the National Anthropological Archives in 1978.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.MS7299
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Graphic Materials
label: Type
content: Leaves
label: Type
content: Works of art
label: Type
content: Forgeries
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Works of art
label: Genre/Form
content: forgeries
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of a fradulent "Mayan" manuscript.  It is similar to other fradulent Mayan manuscripts and codices produced starting in the 1890s.


Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.