Watercolor, charcoal and plaster on paper

In Spain it was against the law to read unapproved books, and to own copies of the Bible was punishable by burning at the stake. Reading was almost nonexistent, and many priests were illiterate. In 1896, more than two-thirds of the populations were unable to read or write. The Spanish suspicion of books spread to the New World, where Spanish friars “converted” the Maya of Yucatan by torture in 1562. They burned hundreds of Maya sacred books because they saw the books as superstition and lies of the devil. If the books survived, they would have been literary treasures and might have shed light on pre-Columbian civilizations.

-- Walker, Barbara G., The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, HarperCollins, San Francisco, 1983. Page 212.