Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life
by Dennis Tedlock (Translator)Touchstone Book, Simon & Schuster, Inc.: New York: 1985.
(pp. 380)
Now widely regarded as the Classic Book of the Western Hemisphere, Dennis Tedlock’s Translation of the ancient Mayan book of the dawn of life and the Glories of Gods and Kings- the Council Book. This is the book of the daykeepers "who know how to interpret illnesses, omens, dreams, messages given by sensations internal to their own bodies, and the multiple rhythms of time."
The Popul Vuh is said to have originated in the Mayan city of Itzapan in southwester Mexico near the modern border of Guatemala 2,250 years ago. Some researcher now say they have found evidence in Itzapan of the early writings on stella. Others suggest (as does Tedlock) that Popol Vuh originated among the Quiché in the highlands of modern Guatemala. While Mayan daykeepers may possess their own original copies of this ancient book written in Mayan script it wasn’t until the 16th century that Quiché daykeepers worked with a Spanish friar to render the book in Spanish. Tedlock’s translation of the Spanish text supplemented with his extensive field ressearch is a major accomplishment that deserves our careful attention