A page from the Dresden codex, Maya manuscript, 1901.

A page from the Dresden Maya Manuscript, 1901. The Dresden Codex is held in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek, the state library in Dresden, Germany. It is the finest surviving example of works of Mayan literature written on paper made from bark. Many existed at the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America but the vast majority were destroyed by the Spaniards. A print from The World's History, A Survey of Man's Record, by Dr HF Helmolt, Volume I, William Heinemann, London, 1901. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)