Mayan Bibliography I have been meaning to upload this list for a while, but I finally put it together in a format that makes enough sense for anyone interested in doing some reading on Mayan history. All these books are ones that I own in my home library, the vast majority in book form with a few on my kindle. There are still a few on here that I haven’t read in their entirety, but I have at least leafed through all of them to get a good idea of what they are about. Books marked with the ***stars are my personal favorites and have been most referenced by me when doing research. Big 4 Mayan History Books: ***Coe, Michael D. The Maya (7th Ed.). New York: Thames and Hudson, 1966 (2005). ***Martin, Simon and Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya (2nd Ed.). New York: Thames and Hudson, 2000 (2008). Thompson, J. Eric S. The Rise and Fall of Maya Civilization (2nd Ed.) University of Oklahoma Press, 1954 (1977). Sharer, Robert J. with Loa P. Traxler. The Ancient Maya (6th Ed.). Stamford, California: Stamford University Press, 1946 (2006). Spoiler I put these four up front because they are probably the best introduction to the overall Mayan culture/history/artwork that you can get out there (my opinion of course), with the first two being the ones that I refer to on the most consistent basis, and are the best books for anyone wanting a good mix of solid historical work and lots of pictures. The second two are more general histories and read like a longer history book with far less pictures. I have included both an older book (Thompson’s 1977 version) and the newer one (Sharer, 2006) because while both are overarching in scope, there was a lot of research and translations done to make some of the conclusions in the older book obsolete by the present day! That being said I found both very good, solid reads. Mayan History Books: Coe, Michael. Breaking the Maya Code (3rd Ed). New York: Thames and Hudson. (Kindle Version). ***Drew, David. The Lost Chronicles of the Maya Kings. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999. Gates, William (translator). Friar Diego de Landa. Yucatan Before and After the Conquest. New York: Dover Publications, 1978 (original 1566, Kindle Version). Hanks, William F. Converting Worlds: Maya in the Age of the Cross. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2010. Helferich, Gerard. Stone of Kings: In Search of the Lost Jade of the Maya. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press, 2012. Lohse, Jon C. and Fred Valdez, Jr. “Ancient Maya Commoners.” Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2004. Looper, Matthew G. Lightning Warrior: Maya Art and Kingship at Quirigua. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2003. Recinos, A. PopolVuh. Archeron Press (Kindle Version). ***Schele, Linda and David Freidel. A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1984. Schele, Linda and Peter Matthews.The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs. New York: Scribner, 1998. Shaw, Christopher. Sacred Monkey River: A Canoe Trip with the Gods. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel Yucatan (Vol 1). New York: Harper Brothers, 1848(Kindle Version). Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel Yucatan (Vol 2). New York: Harper Brothers, 1848(Kindle Version). Stuart, David and George Stuart. Palenque: Eternal City of the Maya. London: Thames and Hudson, 2008. Von Hagen, Victor Wolfgang. Maya Explorer: John Lloyd Stephens and the Lost Cities of Central America and Yucatan. University of Oklahoma Press, 1947 (1983). ***Wauchope, Robert. They Found the Buried Cities: Exploration and Excavation in the America Tropics. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1965. Webster, David, AnnCorinneFreter, and Nancy Gonlin. Copan: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Maya Kingdom. Harcourt College Publishers, 2000. Spoiler Huge selection of books here, but they all have a great deal of information to offer on slightly more “narrow” scope than the first four books. The titles are fairly self-explainatory. I really liked Drew’s Lost Chronicles of the Mayan Kings and Schele’s Forest of Kings as two fantastic general histories, as well as Wauchope’s They Found Buried Cities as a great way to introduce the reader to exactly how Europeans “re”discovered the lost Mayan civilization. Coe’s Breaking the Code is great for learning about the method to deciphering Mayan script, I am just reading this book now and I am thoroughly enjoying it. If you have questions on these or any of the other books on this list please feel free to comment/ask or PM me! Aztec History Books: Cohen, J.M. (translator). Diaz, Bernal. The Conquest of New Spain. New York: Penguin Books, 1963. Gruzinski, Serge. The Aztecs: Rise and Fall of an Empire. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1992. Hugh, Thomas. Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes, and the Fall of Old Mexico. New York: Simon and Schuster (Kindle Version). Prescott, William H. History of the Conquest of Mexico. Archeron Press (Kindle Version). Spoiler I have a couple good books on non-Mayan Mesoamerian history as well, specifically the Aztecs, as well as a few other random good reads below. Other History Books: Millar, George. A Crossbowman’s Story of the First Exploration of the Amazon. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955. Hajovsky, Ric. “The Bizarre Events, Odd Theories, and Offbeat Characters of Tulum: Everything you need to know before you go to the ruins –or- What you wish you read before you went!” Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 2012 (Kindle Version). Mayan Art Books: Diaz, Gisele and Alan Rodgers. The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript. New York: Dover Publications, 1993. Joyce, Rosemary A. and Susan A.M. Shumaker. “Encounters with the Americas.” Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 1995. ***Miller, Mary Ellen. Maya Art and Architecture. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1999. Proskouriakoff, Tatiana. An Album of Maya Architecture. University of Oklahoma Press, 1963. Spinden, Herbert J. Spinden. A Study of Maya Art: Its Subject Matter and Historical Development. New York: Dover Publications, 1975. Spoiler I really like Mayan art, so this category means a lot to me! Miller’s Mayan Art and Architecture was one of the first books that I ever got to get me started on finding all these other sources. Prosokouriakoff’s work is also a classic, as is Spinden’s, though both written quite a while ago. I really enjoyed the Codex Borgia (a Mixtec codex), lots of good picture/picture translations in the work to try to understand what the ancient authors were writing about. Encyclopedias and Handy References: Montgomery, John. Dictionary of Maya Hieroglyphs. New York: Hippocrene Books, 2002. Miller, Mary and Karl Taube. An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993. ***Stone, Andrea and Marc Zender. Reading Maya Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Maya Painting and Sculpture. London, Thames and Hudson, 2011. Spoiler A very helpful group of books to have for me, depending on what I need I refer to them a lot. Also while it is not an encyclopedia like Miller/Taube’s work, Stone/Zender’s Reading Mayan Art was a fantastic book. On one page it will have the Mayan glyph and some artwork where the glyph was used, then on the second page it would hold the text detailing what the glyph meant, and how the Mayans used it in everyday life, to include categories such as colors, animals, plants, etc. Super useful and interesting read! Large–Format Books (lots of good pictures): Bourbon, Fabio. The Lost Cities of the Mayas: the life, art, and discoveries of Frederick Catherwood. Vercelli, Italy: White Star Publishers, 1999. Miller, Mary and Claudia Brittenham. The Spectacle of the Late Maya Court: Reflections on the Murals of Bonampak. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2013. Spoiler These last two are super large books (and expensive) and both gifts, but they are wonderfully illustrated. The first is the beautiful artwork of Frederick Catherwood, very dear to me as some of the first Mayan artwork I was exposed to, as well as some of the first artwork delivered to the general Western public! The second work has a TON of information on the murals of Bonampak, beautiful works that have since been refurbished, and delightfully illustrated in this colossal book. I hope this list is useful to anyone who is tempted to learn more about Mayan history and art!
Always liked art depicting lost historical ruins,no matter the society. Gives me the sense of adventure
It's why I heavily enjoy assassin's Creed despite the historical liberties Ubisoft takes, because they get the visuals bang on.