Compiled in 1582 Ballads of the Lords of New Spain is one of the two principal sources of Nahuatl song as well as a poetical window into the mindset of the Aztec people some sixty years after the conquest of Mexico Presented as a cancionero or anthology in the mode of New Spain the ballads show a reordering but not an abandonment of classic Aztec values In the careful reading of John Bierhorst the ballads reveal in no uncertain terms the pre conquest Aztec belief in the warrior s paradise and in the virtue of sacrifice This volume contains an exact transcription of the thirty six Nahuatl song texts accompanied by authoritative English translations Bierhorst includes all the numerals which give interpretive clues in the Nahuatl texts and also differentiates the text from scribal glosses His translations are thoroughly annotated to help readers understand the imagery and allusions in the texts The volume also includes a helpful introduction and a larger essay On the Translation of Aztec Poetry that discusses many relevant historical and literary issues In Bierhorst s expert translation and interpretation Ballads of the Lords of New Spain emerges as a song of resistance by a conquered people and the recollection of a glorious past Announcing a New Digital Initiative http www lib utexas edu books utdigital UT Press in a new collaboration with the University of Texas Libraries will publish an interactive digital adaptation of the Ballads that will expand the scholarly content beyond what is possible to publish in book form The web site to launch in conjunction with the book in July 2009 includes all of the printed book plus scans of the original codex a normative transcription and space to interact with the author and other scholars as well as art audio a map and other related material The digital Ballads will be open access bringing one of the university s rare holdings to scholars around the world

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