The Journal of Pacific History

ISSN: 0022-3344 (Print) 1469-9605 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjph20

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

Andrea Ballesteros Danel

To cite this article: Andrea Ballesteros Danel (2016): 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 Journal of
Pacific History, DOI: 10.1080/00223344.2016.1250329

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223344.2016.1250329

Published online: 03 Nov 2016.

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Download by: [University of Newcastle, Australia] Date: 16 January 2017, At: 02:58
The Journal of Pacific History, 2016

Book Review
The Boxer Codex: transcription and translation of an illustrated late sixteenth-century Spanish manuscript con-
cerning the geography, history and ethnography of the Pacific, South-east and East Asia. Edited by George
Bryan Souza and Jeffrey S. Turley. European Expansion and Indigenous Response 20. Leiden
and Boston, Brill, 2015. 712 pp., illus., maps, bibliog., index. ISBN 978-90-04-29273-4 (hbk).
€199.00. ISBN 978-90-04-30154-2 (ebook). €199.00.

The Boxer Codex is a detailed and illustrated manuscript of uncertain origin believed to have
been written around 1595 and produced in the Philippines. Although never completed, it pro-
vides a notable account of geographical, ethnographical and historical aspects of the Pacific,
Southeast Asia and East Asia from a European perspective. The manuscript, currently
housed in the Lilly Library at Indiana University, was named after Professor Charles
R. Boxer (1904–2000), a distinguished authority of Portuguese and Dutch colonial history,
who purchased it in 1947 at an auction.
Given the political climate at the time of its production, the Boxer Codex was most
probably amassed for two reasons: to transmit information about the Natives of these areas
and the encounters with them, and to provide military intelligence about potential enemies
to the Iberian Crown and their colonial projects. As such, it includes detailed descriptions
of the inhabitants from parts of China, Java, Japan, Siam, the Philippines, the Moluccas
and the Ladrones (Mariana) Islands, as well as illustrations of their physical appearances
and dress, and even of some Chinese mythical creatures.
Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay (1559–1636) is believed to be the compiler of the
Boxer Codex, as argued by Souza and Turley. Born in Seville, he spent nearly ten years (1595–
1604) in the Philippines and served in the Spanish Crown’s colonial administration for several
more, not just in the Philippines but also in other parts of the New World. His observations and
encounters with the locals would result in his compilation of detailed descriptions of the above
geographical areas as well as the management of the production of the illustrations.
Aside from the detailed narratives describing the history and geography, certain parts
of the Boxer Codex are reminiscent of Alltagsgeschichte, a form of microhistory focusing on
aspects of everyday life. Further curious inclusions in the form of local expressions are also
noteworthy, examples of which are Nahuatlisms from New Spain adopted in the Philippines,
such as the word petate, used to refer to reed mats. Evidently, the Boxer Codex was compiled
centuries before the history of everyday life became a craft, a greater reason for why the reader
may find these descriptions engaging and stimulating.
The book is divided into two parts: the transcription and the translation. The first
part, the transcription, is a faithful yet structured reproduction of the manuscript with in-
text references to the relevant illustrations. It requires proficiency in Old Spanish for a
thorough comprehension, perhaps making part II a lot more appealing. This section portrays
Souza’s and Turley’s remarkable efforts in presenting the reader a thorough and annotated
translation of this prized manuscript. In addition to these, this scholarly work is completed
by a foreword; a list of drawings, illustrations and maps; a comprehensive glossary; a list of
abbreviations; the illustrations (print version only); and a detailed and enlightening
introduction.
Equally as meticulous and valuable as the manuscript is the colossal effort by Souza
and Turley to bring together this prized piece of work and make it accessible to readers inter-
ested in 16th-century European representations of this geographical area. Souza’s and
Turley’s work has filled a gap, as although this manuscript has been known and studied for
several years, previous attempts to translate and transcribe it have all been partial. Therefore,
2 JOURNAL OF PACIFIC HISTORY

we have in Souza and Turley’s edition the first complete transcription and English translation
of this codex, with the associated corpus of annotations to enfold it.
Souza and Turley’s edition of The Boxer Codex is clearly a joint effort of several years.
The meticulously crafted transcription, translation and surrounding annotations, as well as
additional content, are evidence of this. Scholarly and even lay interests in 16th-century Euro-
pean representations of the geographical area mentioned above will be nurtured, as topics
ranging from geographical descriptions to government and the organisation of towns and
cities, social classes and occupations, currencies and trade are described, as well as aspects
of law and order, dress, fare and everyday customs.
The outlay for this edition of The Boxer Codex appears to be comparable to the Uni-
versity of California Press’s 1992 edition of the Codex Mendoza, a four-volume set with one
volume dedicated to the transcription and translation of this Spanish text with an inclusion
of the corresponding images in black and white. (The Codex Mendoza is a highly valuable
post-conquest historical document created by the Aztecs that is rich in illustrations and
facts, ranging from tributes paid to the Spanish to descriptions of everyday life. This manu-
script is similar to the Boxer Codex in that it was also commissioned for the Spanish Crown
in the 16th century, following a period of Spanish presence in New Spain.) Given its rich
content and unique illustrations portraying the peoples of these lands, as observed by the
Spanish, arguably very few manuscripts compare to the Boxer Codex in value and range of
topics that centre on this part of Asia.

ANDREA BALLESTEROS DANEL

Australian National University
andrea.ballesteros@anu.edu.au
© 2016 Andrea Ballesteros Danel
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223344.2016.1250329