He also gives lengthy synopses of the histories of the Alonso, Usatigui, Barcena, and Rodriguez families and explains the elements of the coat of arms and their significance. Included here, and a most uncommon element of such documents, is the listing of all 26 exemptions and privileges that hidalgos enjoy by right of their status.

The text is written in a competent but not notable semi-calligraphic hand, 22 lines to a page, using sepia ink (sometimes pale though always legible), with rubrics in red outlined in brown and the first line of text in majuscules in red and brown. The coat of arms bears a bearded man’s head above a castle with a lion rampant sinister and a wolf rampant dexter. The border of the shield is set with the heads of men in the four cardinal directions and ladders sinister and dexter. The whole is accomplished in red, blue, silver. purple, and green, but curiously not gold. There is a contemporary orange silk guard protecting the leaf of arms, and the volume ends with endorsements on the last leaf, with the paper seal of the city of Madrid.

Provenance:  20th-century stamp on front free endpaper of the Argentine private library of the Moctezuma family.

An intriguing aspect of the binding is that faintly visible beneath the pastedowns is 15th-century manuscript waste.

•  Contemporary parchment over pasteboards with inked summary of contents and a large tulip-like flower on front cover; evidence of silk ties now missing. Text with some small holes from the very occasional inkburn, else in good and presentable condition.  (40295)

•  Very good condition and easy to read.  (31203)

Bearing signatures, among others, of Pedro Buitrago, Narciso Dulón, Eusebio Gutiérrez, M. de la Cruz Méndez, José M. Dalence, and Manuel Sagarnaga.

•  Very good condition. Two small tears at folds, not affecting text.  (3107)

Documents such as these showing the growth and development of haciendas in the central part of Mexico are fairly common but extremely uncommon for the Yucatan. Similarly colonial-era documents in Nahuatl are fairly commonly available in the marketplace but comparable ones in Maya are rare. This is the first gathering of land documents for the Yucatan and the first manuscripts in Maya that PRB&M has had in its decades of dealing in Mexican colonial-era manuscripts — see images below for the latter.

(We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the state archive of the Yucatan in explaining the significance of the stamps of the Land Inspection Section that appear in some of the documents. It is good to be assured that they are indication of private, not government, ownership.)

•  Each cahier is housed in a Mylar sleeve and the five are contained in a blue cloth clamshell box. Condition is extremely variable: as above, one cahier has extensive worm/insect damage, another has faded ink, and others are just fine. Stamps are present as mentioned above. A rare surviving compilation and one that is instructive from multiple perspectives.  (40308)

•  Stitched.  (2674)

Three officials from the affected towns brought this lawsuit against Padilla in 1624. The testimony gathered by the plaintiffs, in both Spanish and Nahuatl, is presented in 18 documents (most in Spanish translation via a bilingual court official), and they convinced the contador of Tehuacán, who served as judge, torule in favor of the Indians.

Enforcing the decision was not easy, however. According to the final pages here Padilla initially ignored the outcome of the suit, and even sent his servant to assault and “rip the hairs from the beard” of the official sent to inform him of the decision!

•  In very good condition, in multiple hands, withone hand definitely that of a literate native.  (41022)

•  Written in a very clear hand, with the paper and wax seal below the king’s signature (wax desicated and paper loose, but present). Two blank leaves at end. Very good condition.  (5578)

•  Crumpling at all edges, light brown stain in upper third of the leaf; good condition. Written in a slightly difficult hand: A good paleographical specimen.  (31209)

This is a fine, extremely early example of Father Hidalgo's signature.

The woman who provided the money for the above mentioned masses was the wife of Antonio de Vivano (also spelled Bibano) Gutiérrez and mother of Antonio Guadalupe de Vivano, the first two Condes de Vivanco. Cambridge scholar David Brading credits Antonio de Vivanco with restoring the mining region of Bolaños to prosperity in the early 1770s, following the region's sharp decline in silver ore production during the first two-thirds of the 18th century — whereby he became very wealthy.

In addition to payment for masses for her soul, Doña Augustina's will provides for large sums of money to be spent on construction work on the chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the bishopric of Guadalajara. The paperwork, including receipts, associated with the distribution of her largesse is weighty and detailed.

Among the collateral documents in this offering are copies of the last wills and testaments of Antonio de Vivanco Gutiérrez (1796), Augustina Velázquez (1780), and Antonio Guadalupe de Vivanco (1800); the inventory of the younger Vivanco's massive estate (1801); and a marvelouscalligraphic manuscript in which the bishop of Guadalajara grants a special privilege to Vivanco the elder. All are notarially certified copies of the originals.

•  All documents in very good condition, sewn, in contemporary vellum bindings.  (3731)

On the bottom half is a signed receipt, in Spanish, dated Granada 8 May 1501, wherein Germán de Paris and Jacques acknowledge receiving the above mentioned payment.

•  The usual slash of cancellation (faintly visible above), indicating that this has been entered into the account books. Remnant of stiff paper at top of verso indicating it was once mounted in an album.  (19360)

•  Disoloration alone the horizontal middle of the leaf; small holes at same area. Overall good++. Clear, easy notarial hand.  (31215)

The specifications of the verso are: Imprint area: 42 x 153 mm. Number of lines of text: 9. First line: que vuestro lugar y minombre podays hazer et sostituyr este poder en vna per Last line: la clausula judicium sisti iudicatum con sus clausulas acostumbradas Blanks: at the end of lines 4 & 9 and the beginning of 5.

The document was sworn in Puebla on 11 December 1565, before the notary Juan de Bedoya, and in it Francisco Guilen, a citizen of Puebla, gives his power of attorney to Hernando de RIbas, a resident in Veracruz.

Valton (see below) attributed this formulary to Juan Pablos. It bears no relation to the examples of his job printing that we have seen; it does, however, bearthe hallmarks of Ocharte's craftsmanship. The date of this form's printing is based on the exemplar in the Beinecke Library at Yale, where the earliest manuscript date on the carta is 9 October 1565. Assignment of printer is based on types and ornaments.

An excellent, early example of Mexican job printing, with the earliest known example of such job printing having been dated in manuscript in 1562.

•  Szewczyk & Buffington, 39 Books and Broadsides Printed in America before the Bay Psalm Book, 6 (for the exemplar now at Yale), fully illustrated. Appears to be Carpenter's type 4, attributed by Valton to Juan Pablos. See: Carpenter, A Sixteenth Century Broadside from the Collection of Emilio Valton, and also see, Juan Pascoe, Tratado breve sobre un formulario notarial, which is a study of a different copy of this precise notarial form (which, unfortunately, had its manuscript completion misdated as being 1562 when it is in fact 1566).   Removed from a bound volume and slightly tattered in inner margin. One worm hole (pinhole type) in lower blank margin. A very good example of Ocharte's job printing and an attractive one, with its manuscript completions both bold and legible. (41005)

The Court had just come through a period during which a military ruler had systematically dismantled the courts and undercut their authority and dignity. Olañeta had assumed his presidency only days before the first document in the collection was penned.

•  Very good condition. A few small tears at folds.  (3116)

This is a certified contemporary copy of the original with the official paper and wax seal (now desiccated and detached but present).

•  Very good condition with minimal bleed through. Written in a very clear notarial hand.  (31210)

•  Very good condition. Easy to read.  (27626)

Certified, contemporary copy of the original.

•  Sewn. In good condition. Very legible notarial hand.  (7710)

A contemporaneous certified copy of the original document.

•  Written in a clear notarial hand. Very good condition.  (14466)

One is a letter of Junipero Serra dated Monterey, 7 October 1779, reporting that he has made a copy of Fr. Crespi's diary and is sending it via the ship that has just arrived; a second Serra letter dated Monterey, 9 September 1779, reports on the various missions and states that he hopes to establish one in San Francisco. The third letter is by Sebastian Vizcaino, dated Monterey, 8 December 1602, reporting on his voyage of discovery along the California coast.

The facsimiles are on laid paper and in sepia ink and are great replicas of the originals with a great backstory as to their creation.

Provenance:  Adolph Sutro; later for sale by E. B. Sterling, Historical Print Seller, Trenton, NJ (1851–1925).

•  Overall very good: Some age stains, one corner repaired, some dust-soiling. In a light paper folder with E.B. Sterling's faint rubber-stamp.  (41011)

•  Written by several notaries so hands are varied. Stitching starting to loosen. A very few leaves with small loss of text to a hungry rodent.  (27598)

•  Sewn, in good condition.  (2218)