Maya Script: A Civilization and Its Writing

Longhena, Maria

ISBN 10: 0789206536 / ISBN 13: 9780789206534

Published by Abbeville Press, Publishers, New York, 2000

About this Item

Large 8vo. 180 pp, illus. Translated from the Italian by Rosanna M. Giammanco Frongia: First Edition, 2000. Not Price Clipped. Pristine, no wear. No markings, binding tight, clean, white and bright. 6.75" x 9.5". Off-white cloth with black lettering to spine. Illustrated dj in acetate protector. Size: Large Octavo.

Seller Inventory # 6848

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Maya Script: A Civilization and Its Writing
• Publisher: Abbeville Press, Publishers, New York
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0789206536
• ISBN 13: 9780789206534
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • ARCHAEOLOGY

About this title

Synopsis

This volume presents about 200 Maya glyphs (symbolic figures). Some are ideograms (pictorial symbols representing things, not words); others are phonetic signs. The glyphs express people, animals, things, and such abstract concepts as death. Each one opens a window onto fragments of everyday life, religious beliefs, or even emotions. The complexity of the Maya calendar, mathematical computations, and astronomy reveals a highly-developed civilization. This book also features two-colour drawings of the glyphs, illustrations from reliefs and Spanish codices, and examples of Maya sculpture and paintings. Concluding the book is a chapter on writing systems of the New World, a list of museums to visit, a bibliography, and an index of glyphs.

About the Author

Maria Longhena, a scholar of South and Central American pre–Columbian civilizations and history, is actively engaged in intensive research of Maya written sources. Her studies have been published in international scientific journals and she has been involved in numerous museum exhibitions in Europe, including "Inca–Peru: 3000 Years of History" and "In Search of the American Past."