As an enthusiastic explorer of the Dresden Maya manuscript, Ernst Wilhelm Förstemann, director of the Royal Public Library in Dresden from 1865 to 1887, ensured that the basic literature on the subject was available here. After he left the service, this so-called "Maya-Apparat" was continuously supplemented. An index from 1895, which is also an annotated bibliography, already contains 436 monographs and essays, although not all of them could be acquired. Even today, the most important research literature on the Dresden Maya manuscript is acquired at the SLUB whenever possible. 

A bibliography covering handwritten sources and research-relevant printed and electronic literature as well as important websites can be found here.

Reference should also be made to the SLUB catalogue, to the catalogue of the University Library in Bonn (where Prof. Dr. Nicolai Grube, one of the currently most important Maya researchers, teaches), to the "Bibliografía Mesoamericana" of the FAMSI and to the specialised information service Latin America, Caribbean and Latino Studies of the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut Preußischer Kulturbesitz.

In this context, the SLUB asks all scholars and scientists to report the bibliographical details or internet addresses of their publications and, if possible, to provide specimen copies or offprints of their publications. Titles can also be suggested for purchase.