BOXER CODEX, ca.

1590

Professor Charles R. Boxer purchased this manuscript volume in 1947 from the sale of books and manuscripts
from Lord Ilchester's library at Holland House. It dates from the late sixteenth century and contains about 270 pages
of text, written probably by a Spanish and possibly by a Filipino clerk, and drawn from a variety of sources. There are
also seventy-five colored drawings of the inhabitants of China, the Philippines, Java, the Moluccas, the Ladrones, and
Siam; eighty-eight smaller drawings of birds and fantastic animals; and a double-fold drawing depicting a Spanish ship
off one of the Ladrone islands surrounded by the small canoes of the natives of the island. The text of the volume
consists of contemporary accounts describing these places, their people and customs, and the European contact with
them. (From: Rebecca Cape and Stephen Cape, The Friends of the Lilly Library Newsletter 23 (Fall 1994).)

Source: “Boxer Codex,” The Lilly Library Digital Collections, accessed September 8, 2018,
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/digital/collections/items/show/93.

Negritos or Aeta warriors Zambal hunters’ Tagalog natives (probably alipin)

Pintados of the Visayas showing their tattoos Naturales (Tagalogs) Royal and his wife, Naturales (Tagalogs) Maginoo wearing the
wearing the distinctive color of his class distinctive color of his class (blue).
(red).
 Revealing the Boxer Codex

Jeffrey S. Turley’s translation of the Boxer Codex opens up new avenues of research of Asia in the 16th century.

PROVO, Utah (June 16,2016)—In 1947, famed historian Charles Ralph Boxer bought at auction a 16th century codex
– a handwritten book – of unknown origin. Written in Spanish, the manuscript was an anthology of reports and
descriptions of the various ethnic groups of the South China Sea. The manuscript was especially notable for the
beautiful illustrations of indigenous peoples. Boxer translated a portion of the text and published his findings, and
scholars recognized the Boxer Codex as a valuable look at Asia through the eyes of 16th century Europeans.
This last year, associate professor of Spanish linguistics Jeffrey S. Turley, together with George Bryan
Souza of the University of Texas at San Antonio, published The Boxer Codex: Transcription and Translation of an
Illustrated Late Sixteenth-Century Spanish Manuscript Concerning the Geography, History and Ethnography of the
Pacific, South-east and East Asia. The book comes on the heels of over a decade of work.
Though the Codex’s compiler is unknown, the authors of the various accounts that make up the Codex include
bishops, sailors, explorers and diplomats, all with an interest in Asian cultures. Their reasons for writing were just as
diverse as their occupations. One writer, Dom João Ribeiro Gaio, was the Portuguese bishop of Malacca, located in
present day Indonesia. Called the “Rutter of Aceh,” the bishop’s account contained detailed instructions to the Spanish
crown on how to conquer the kingdom of Aceh, including intel about a secret passageway into the king’s palace.
In contrast, the descriptions of China were written by a Dominican priest who, in his writing, expressed a
strong desire to establish trade and perform missionary work among the Chinese. “He’s one of the very first Europeans
to visit China,” Turley said. “And his account is very different. . . . It’s not judgmental at all.” The priest’s accounts
include anthropological descriptions of the Chinese government, culture, fashions and basic daily life.
Addressing the Codex’s eclectic nature, Turley said, “It’s kind of a mishmash. . . . Most [accounts] are
anonymous, some are authored.” With so many known and unknown contributors, the Boxer Codex required more
than just translation; it required in-depth investigation. Together, Turley, Souza and their students produced nearly
2,000 footnotes. The notes include greater detail concerning locations visited, individuals encountered, and practices
observed, giving readers greater context for their study.
Though portions of the Codex have been translated in the past, Turley and Souza’s is the first complete
transcription and translation of the ancient text. This is despite the Codex’s importance to historians, anthropologists
and philologists as a primary resource. And those portions that were translated after Boxer’s were found severely
lacking.
“There’s a big chunk about the Philippines. The translation was almost laughable, it was so bad,” Turley said,
giving an example. “It was done in the early ’60s, and it stood. No one ever really commented on how bad it was. They
just assumed that [the translators] knew what they were doing. I think I was the first one to ever go in and study and
see what the manuscript actually said. And I was shocked because it was so far off.”
With the help of research students, Turley and Souza transcribed the entirety of the manuscript and translated
it, even those portions that Boxer had previously translated himself, giving it a consistent tone and checking for
accuracy every step of the way. Turley and Souza were intent on avoiding the mistakes of the past. Turley said, “Now,
for the first time, people can read and access it in an accurate way.”
Describing the project’s importance, Turley said, “It appeals to a lot of people in different fields. This material
is important for historians and anthropologists. It’s linguistically interesting, so it attracts Spanish philologists. Right
there you have enough people in a scholarly community that this will be a pretty important reference.”

—Samuel Wright (B.A. American Studies ’16)

Source: Turley, Jeffrey. “Revealing the Boxer Codex,” Birham Young University - Humanities, accessed September
8, 2018, https://humanities.byu.edu/revealing-the-boxer-codex/