MS 2205 Copies of Alexander von Humboldt collection of Mexican pictographic manuscripts
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: NAA MS 2205
name: label: Collector
content: Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859
label: Artist
content: von den Steinen, Wilhelm, 1854-1934
label: Names
content: Seler, Eduard, 1849-1922
place: label: Place
content: North America
label: Place
content: Mexico
creator: label: Collector
content: Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859
label: Artist
content: von den Steinen, Wilhelm, 1854-1934
culture: label: Culture
content: Aztec (archaeological culture)
setName: label: See more items in
content: MS 2205 Copies of Alexander von Humboldt collection of Mexican pictographic manuscripts
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Alexander von Humboldt was a Prussian naturalist and geographer who traveled extensively in Central and South America. The records and studies he made during his travels helped establish physical geography and geophysics as disciplines. His writings such as Voyage de Humboldt et Bonpland and Kosmos also contributed to make him one of the foremost scholars of the 19th century.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 18 Drawings (visual works) (pencil, ink, watercolor)
label: Extent
content: 2 Photocopies (photostats)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1904
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.MS2205
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Drawings (visual works)
label: Type
content: Photocopies
label: Type
content: Works of art
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Facsimiles (reproductions)
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Works of art
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: facsimiles (reproductions)
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: The Alexander von Humboldt collection, also known as Manuscripta americana, is held by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Germany) and the  Jagiellonian Library in Kraków (Poland).
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of 18 drawings and 2 photostats.  The drawings are copies of fragments of Aztec manuscripts collected by Alexander von Humboldt and donated to the Royal Library of Berlin (now the Berlin State Library or Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin) in 1806.  The drawings were made by Wilhem von den Steinen from the originals in the Royal Library. They were commissioned by Eduard Seler and the Bureau of American Ethnology to illustrate Seler's article "Mexican Picture Writings of Alexander von Humboldt" in the Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin, 28, (1904). 


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.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The National Anthropological Archives holds material related to the publication of these materials in BAE Bulletin 28 in MS 3251 Miscellaneous material used in Bulletin 28, Mexican and Central American Antiquities, Calendar Systems and History.

The British Museum holds copies of the Humboldt collection drawn by Agostino Aglio for Lord Kingsborough in MS 8882.