James Lockhart

We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico James Lockhart

Marc Notes: Originally published: Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1993.; Includes bibliographical references and index.; Text in English and Nahuatl, with some Spanish. Publisher Marketing: Historians are concerned today that the Spaniards' early accounts of their first experiences with the Indians in the Americas should be balanced with accounts from the Indian perspective. We People Here reflects that concern, bringing together important and revealing documents written in the Nahuatl language in sixteenth-century Mexico. James Lockhart's superior translation combines contemporary English with the most up-to-date, nuanced understanding of Nahuatl grammar and meaning. The foremost Nahuatl conquest account is Book Twelve of the Florentine Codex. In this monumental work, Fray Bernardino de Sahagun commissioned Nahuas to collect and record in their own language accounts of the conquest of Mexico; he then added a parallel Spanish account that is part summary, part elaboration of the Nahuatl. Now, for the first time, the Nahuatl and Spanish texts are together in one volume with en face English translations and reproductions of the copious illustrations from the Codex. Also included are five other Nahua conquest texts. Lockhart's introduction discusses each one individually, placing the narratives in context. Contributor Bio:  Lockhart, James James Lockhart, Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles, is the author of Spanish Peru, 1532-1560 and several substantial articles on the theory and practice of Latin American social history. He previously taught at Colgate University and the University of Texas, and has served as associate editor of the Hispanic American Historical Review.