The John Carter Brown Library holds one of the world's largest collections of books containing text in one or more Amerindian languages for the period before the nineteenth century. This searchable bibliography lists every book in the library–whether it contains a one-page vocabulary list or an entire work–on native American languages. Besides the many grammatical studies, dictionaries, and thematic vocabulary lists, genres such as speeches, dramatic dialogues, scriptural excerpts, catechisms, and other religious texts are included, as are manuscript sources held by the library. Around 600 titles are listed.
Researchers may search by keyword in all fields or limit the keyword search to author, title, uniform title, place of publication, notes, genres, languages, or regions; they may also browse listings by Language, Genre, and Geographical Area. Standard and specialized bibliographic references are included. With notes on the precise location and nature of each item’s Indian language content, this bibliography should greatly facilitate research in many aspects of European encounters with indigenous populations in the colonial period in the Americas.
Image is a detail from the Boban Calendar [Tezcuco? ca. 1530] which includes symbolic representation of the months and days of the Aztec year with explanatory text in Nahuatl language transcribed into European script. Within the circle Hernando decor [Hernán Cortés?] and Don Antonio Pimentel [son of Ixtlilxochitl, an ally of Cortes, and last native king of Texcoco] speak to each other.
