The destruction of the jaguar : poems from the Books of Chilam Balam / translated by Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Sawyer-Lauçanno, Christopher, 1951-

City Lights Books

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Standardized Title:

Books of Chilam Balam. English. Selections.

Language:

English

Mayan languages

Subjects (All):

Maya poetry--Translations into English.

Maya poetry.

American poetry--Translations from Maya.

American poetry.

Mayas--History.

Mayas.

History.

Mayas--Religion and mythology.

Indians of Mexico--History.

Indians of Mexico.

Indians of Mexico--Religion.

Indian mythology--Mexico.

Indian mythology.

Genre:

Poetry.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

8 unnumbered pages, vi, 59 pages, 5 unnumbered pages, 2 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

San Francisco : City Lights Books, [1987]

Summary:

Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno writes in his introduction to Destruction of the Jaguar that ""The Books of Chilam Balam are the only principal surviving texts of the ancient Maya. Written in the Mayan language but in European script, they are generally considered to be transcriptions and recompilations from memory of material originally contained in the hieroglyphic books, all of which were apparently destroyed by the Spaniards . . . As they stand now, they are a curious and fascinating combination of prophecy, history, chronology, ritual and mythology." -- Here is an English translation that captures the unparalleled beauty of one of the great pre-Columbian masterpieces. This stirring, prophetic poetry haunts our own times.

Notes:

Translation of various Mayan poems from the Books of Chilam Balam.

Publisher's advertisements: [3] p. at end.

"A note on the sources": pages v-vi.

ISBN:

0872862100 :

OCLC:

15652376