FLORA: The Aztec Herbal. 2009. (The Paper Mus. of Cassiano del Pozzo: A Catalogue Raisonné, Series B, Part VIII). 194 (184 col.) illustrations. 254 p. Hardcover.

This volume catalogues Cassiano dal Pozzo's copy of the CodexCruz - Badianus, an Aztec herbal prepared for the son of the Viceroy of Mexico in 1552 and the earliest medical text to have survived from the New World. Cassiano's copy of the Codex Cruz -Badianus is preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.Each folio of the Windsor manuscript is reproduced in colour together full comparative illustrations of the Codex Cruz - Badianus. The Latintext is transcribed with paralell English translation, and each of the184 drawings of plants is analysed. The catalogue is preceded by general introductions to the Paper Museum and to the natural history drawings, and by two thematic essays: Luigi Guerrini discusses the Windsor copy in the context of the Lincei's researches into the natural history of the New World; and Alejandro de Avila reviews the current state of research into the original Codex Cruz - Badianus,including the field work and linguistic researches in Mexico that are changing our understanding of the manuscript.