The Codex Aubin, the British Museum, Princeton University, and Fair Use

So after tracking down the digitized version of the Codex Aubin at the British Museum - I decided to petition the institution for a higher resolution scan than the one provided for viewing on the website (to see the difference in quality).


As a quick comparison - the image on the website is 750x452 pixels with a screen resolution of 72dpi.

The scan I received from them, after assuring them I would not become rich using their images, was 2500x1775 pixels with a resolution of 300dpi. Here's the copyrighted file the British Museum sent me.

Pretty impressive and actually adequate for a careful visual inspection and printing reproduction.

Also - checked up on Princeton's copy - which is a watercolor reproduction of the original. Here's a bit from their website...

"The Princeton copy may have been made from the original and contains a page-by-page copy of the drawings in color; the transcript of the Nahuatl text, however, is not exact in regard to the page layout... Rémi Siméon (b. 1827) described a copy of the "Codex Aubin" with 79 leaves or 158 pages owned by an Italian named Chialiva. He has also noted that it has an unnumbered leaf between fols. 32 and 33. This copy was probably owned by Chialiva, as it has Italian glosses and an unnumbered leaf following fol. 32.

Sold in a Sotheby and Co. auction catalog of Nov. 9-10, 1936, as lot no. 240. It was purchased by Garrett through or from the London firm of Bernard Quaritch. Inside the outer wrapper is the inscription "R. G. Nov. 1936," which is Robert Garrett's ownership and accession mark. Garrett deposited this manuscript at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton in 1942 at which time he described them briefly in the "Garrett Collection List No. 3." Garrett donated the item along with several other manuscripts to the Princeton University Library in 1949. "

Here's an image they make available on their website... as a side note - their reproduction and permissions page is completely terrifying.


and the corresponding low res version from the British Museum...


As for Princeton's reproduction policy - it basically looks like they waive fees (sometimes) but you have to pay up front and then have the fee refunded back to you? Not sure - here's the section...

"Reproduction fees are routinely waived for the Princeton University community, including current faculty, staff, and students; as well as the Princeton University Press, Art Museum, Index of Christian Art, and other university offices or publications. Fees are also waived for black-and-white reproduction of a few images of textual or visual materials on inside pages of a scholarly journal (either printed or electronic), in an academic monograph published in a press run of fewer than 750 copies, or in a scholarly micro-form or electronic edition. Reproduction fees in these specific cases will be waived for everyone, whether or not a member of the Princeton University Community. However, even when fees are waived, existing photoduplication charges must be paid in advance, and permission to reproduce images must be requested in writing in order to guarantee that citations are accurate. "