
MANUSCRITOS

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Certifying the Use of a Coat of Arms & the
Concomitant Privileges & Exemptions
Alonso Usatigui Barcena y Rodriguez de los Rios, Francisco. Polychromatic genealogical/heraldic manuscript, on paper, in Spanish. Madrid: 1722 (5 December). 4to (31 cm, 12"). [24] ff.
$1200.00
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Francisco Alonso Usatigui Barcena y Rodriguez de los Rios was descended from the noble families of Alonso, Usatigui, Barcena, and Rodriguez and held office as a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Spanish Royal Infantry Guard in the early 18th century, during and after the War of Spanish Succession.
Here Don Juan Antonio de Hoces Sarmiento, the Royal Chronicler, certifies that he has examined the many volumes in the royal archives relating to the noble families of Spain and their achievements, royal favors, and coats of arms, and he has found that Col. Alonso Usatigui is entitled to use the coat of arms that serves as the frontispiece of this manuscript.
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)

“Scroungers” &
Their Rights in 13th-Century ARAGON
(Still Scrounging/Foraging in 1542)
Almudevar (Spain). Manuscript document, on paper. In Latin. Aragon: 5 May 1542. Small 4to (21.9 cm; 8.675"). [5] pp.
$775.00
Click the image for an enlargement.

Signatures of the
Famous & Obscure
(Autographs in Abundance). Collection of signatures of notable and lesser Mexicans of the colonial era and first three quarters of the 19th century. Mexico: 1646 to ca. 1880. Various small sizes.
$2250.00
Click the images for enlargements.
The collection contains approximately 400 clipped signatures of historical, political, and literary figures, including: José María Fagoaga (signer of the Act of Independence), Manuel Sotarriva (signer of the Act of Independence), Miguel Cervantes (i.e., Marques de Salvatierra. signer of the Act of Independence), Juan de Solorzano Pereira (jurist and major writer on the law of the Indies), Juan Cervantes y Padilla (signer of the Act of Independence), Jose Maria Heredia (poet), Jose Fernandez de Jauregui (printer), Jose Maria Guridi y Alcocer (signer of the Act of Independence), Valentín Canalizo (general, supporter and confidante of Santa Anna), Marques de San Juan de Rayas (signer of the Act of Independence), Santiago de Irissarri ((Independence-era military figure), Jose Bustamante (signer of the Act of Independence), Enrique White (governor of East Florida), Ignacio Barbachano (leader of the 1841 Yucatecan-break-away protonation), Vicente de la Concha (Queretaro politician), Juan Hierro Maldonado (Minister of Fomento, Colonización é Industria, and great politician), El Marques de Selva Nevada, Jacobo Ugarte y Loyola (governor of province of Coahuila y Tejas in the 1790s), El Conde de Alcazar, Ignacio de Bustamante (many times governor of Sonora), José Ignacio de Berasueta (intendent of Puebla in 1811), José Mariano de Arce (chief of revenue for pulque and alcabala), Francisco Javier Miranda (one of the delegation that offered Mexico to Maximilian!), Urbano Tovar (conservative politician, governor of Jalisco), Ramon Gutierrez del Mayo, Francisco Robledo, Francisco Jose de Urrutia, Victoriano Lopez Gonzalo (bishop of Puebla), Esteban Lorenzo de Tristán y Esmenota (bishop of Durango), Manuel José Rubio y Salinas (archbishop of Mexico), Mariano Riva Palacio (politician), Rafael Mangino (politician who crowned Emperor Agustin I), José Agustín Domínguez y Díaz (bishop of Oaxaca), Ignacio Alas (railroad entrepreneur), Juan Faustino Mazihcatzin (Indian leader of Tlaxcala), Pedro Saenz de la Guardia (naval commander of the San Blas region), Vicente Filisola (general, second in command to Santa Anna in the Texas Campaign), Esteban Moctezuma (general defeated by Bustamante at Gallinero), Jose Mariano Beristain (the great bibliographer), Manuel Payno (novelist and playwright), and many more.
Beyond its simple charm as
a signature gallery both representing and evoking a long era of Mexican history, this is a most useful archive of “sample” signatures.
All items glued to
both sides of sheets of paper (approximately 25 x 21.5 cm; .75 x 8.5" h x w) with multiple clipped signatures per sheet, 21 sheets total. Glue stains, and some early colonial ones with sealing-wax stains. (34167)

Their Judgment: FARCICAL Process, BUT
Enforceable Policy . . .
Bolivia. Treaties. 1842. Manuscript Document Signed. Sucre, 10 December 1842. On paper, in Spanish. Folio, 3 ½ pp.
$500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
The official, signed report of the Presidential Committee appointed to investigate the just-concluded “treaty of peace, commerce and navigation” with Great Britain. The report observes: “The present treaty is, letter for letter, the same as that concluded in 1837 in Lima by the Proctor of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation, and the same, also, bearing the date of 30 May 1838 that the Extraordinary Bolivian Congress (meeting in Cochabamba) approved” (our translation). With five members dissenting, the committee decides that the method of congressional approval, though “farcical,” was legal and binding.
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)
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The Development of a
Hacienda in the YUCATAN — 1626–1866
(Chalmuch Hacienda, Yucatan, Mexico). Manuscript cahiers on paper of land transfers and inventories, in
MAYA and Spanish. Chalmuch, Merida, elsewhere in Yucatan: 1626–1866. Folio (31 cm, 12.5"). 132 ff. (14 blank).
$5500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Law suits between Yucatan hacienda owners (one a woman), and hacienda owners and Indians; estate inventories and land transfers (three in Maya); materials showing usefully characteristic environmental effects — from the early 17th century and continuing through the middle of the 19th, these documents chronicle the development of the Chalmuch hacienda, situated approximately 12 kilometers west of the center of Merida.
In the Yucatan — for geographic, geologic. ecologic, and economic reasons, particularly the quality of the soil and the lack of water for irrigation — haciendas had a later appearance than in other parts of Mexico, especially in the center and north, where their development began in the decade after the fall of the Aztec Empire. It was not until the 17th century that haciendas began to be established in the Yucatan Peninsula.
The earliest document in these five sewn-files is dated 18 May 1626 and concerns the settlement of a law suit between Bernardo de Sosa Velazquez and the Indians of the towns of Santiago, Cauqall, and Vac regarding unused lands and hills. The suit was settled in favor of Sosa with the provisos that he occupy the lands, build on and populate them, and bring in cattle within one year. The addition of new land to this original sitio is the substance of the remaining documents. Among them are two estate inventories and three documents of the first third of the 18th century in Maya (land transfers).
In the 1850s and ‘60s there was a land dispute between Doña Pastora Castillo, owner of the Oxcun hacienda, and Bernardo Cano, owner of the Chalmuch hacienda (represented by Sr. José Vicente Solís, his agent), concerning the need for a survey of boundaries. The dispute dragged on and in 1866, during the attempted reforms of Maximilian's Empire, these documents were presented before the state's Land Inspection Section and were certified by the Chief of Inspection with his stamp. The Land Inspection Section was responsible for the preparation and revision of plans, the comparison of land documents, and the measurement of land held by each hacienda, as well as certification of location, boundaries, and owners.
Provenance: From the private archive of the Chalmuch hacienda.
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.
Manuscripts from the Yucatan are notorious for having suffered environmental and ecological damage: damp and insect problems. These are no exception, but as such they are excellent for teaching purposes as well as traditional research. One cahier has extensive worm/insect damage, another has faded ink from exposure to long-term humidity, and others are just fine. Here is the opportunity to show (and for students to practice) how to use light sources of various wave-lengths for making faded writing jump off the page and how to carefully interleave a document with thin Mylar sheets to save leaves from further damage during reading and page-turning.
(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)

A New Bishop for Buenos Aires Manuscript Decree
Charles IV, King of Spain. Document signed with a wooden stamp ("Yo El Rey") and with evidence of a royal paper and wax seal. Aranjuez, 23 February 1798. Folio (288 x 210 mm.). [3] ff.
$675.00
Decree confirming Pedro Inocencio Bejarano as bishop of Buenos Aires, succeeding the late Manuel de Azamor y Ramírez. Written in a cursive hand. With, in addition to the stamped royal signature, those of various witnesses.
Stitched. (2674)
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Water & Land Rights — A Law Suit in NAHUATL & Spanish
SCORNFUL DEFIANCE of the RULING!
Citizens of Coculco & Tempatetetzintla v. Antonio de Padilla. Manuscript on paper in Nahautl and Spanish. Tehuacán: 1624. Folio (31 cm, 12.25"). [10] ff.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
Soon after the completion of the conquest of Mexico, the native populations learned the importance of Spanish law and quickly learned to use it to their advantage as much as the system would allow. In this legal proceeding the Nahuatl-speaking citizens of the towns of Coculco and Tempatetetzintla seek redress via the courts for actions of a Spanish neighbor named Antonio de Padilla who lived in the neighboring area of Tehuacán in Central Mexico.
The man from whom Padilla purchased his land had settled a case out of court with the indigenous townspeople herein for the sum of 100 pesos and an agreement to cede some of his land to them. Padilla, however, respected neither the Indians nor the legal process; he continued to plant both on the ceded lands and to plant on land that the Indians alleged was always theirs, while deforesting some other of their land and also denying them their long-held access to water, including use of
an irrigation canal that had been created by the Indians themselves with great difficulty. In a region with little water, water rights were extremely important.
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, to
rule 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, with
one hand definitely that of a literate native. (41022)

Building a Railroad in
CUBA in the 1830s
(Cuban Railroads ~ Early)! A collection of two letters and four printed forms relating to the Compañia de Caminos de Hierro de la Habana and the Compañía del Camino de Hierro entre las Ciudades de Puerto Principe y Nuevitas. Havana & Puerto Principe: 1834–40. Letters: 4to (25 x 20 cm, 9.875" x 8"). 16 pp., 7 pp. (last blank). Printed documents: Folio (30.5 x 21 cm, 12" x 8.25"). 4 leaves.
$2500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
In the earliest period of railroad technology, Cuban leaders became interested in
a rail line to carry sugar and coffee from inland to the port in Havana. In 1837 the railroad was launched, one of the first in the world and beating Spain by more than a decade. Civil engineer Benjamin Hall Wright (1801–81), son of Benjamin Wright, chief engineer for much of the Erie Canal project, was hired to consult on the Cuban rail project. These two letters (dated 8 January and 17 May 1834), written in fluent Spanish and addressed to Wenceslao de Villa Urrutia, discuss the supplies and funds needed for the road from Havana to Güines in the interior, as well as for an additional proposed road to Rincon, also describing the necessary grading work.
The four printed documents are stock certificates issued by the “Compañia del Camino de Hierro entre las Ciudades de Puerto Príncipe y Nuevitas.” They are partially printed and completed in manuscript, issued with the appropriate (and interesting) stamps to members of the Betancourt family, and signed with flourishes by multiple officers. The Betancourts were deeply involved in the development of early railroads in Cuba.
The letters have all the characteristics to be expected of copies retained in a bound volume maintained by Benjamin Hall Wright.
Zanetti & Garcia, Sugar & Railroads: A Cuban History, pp. 18–33. All documents overall in excellent condition with only some age-toning; all leaves loose. Letters with evidence, as above, of having been in a sewn volume. (40980)
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Fernando VII, King of Spain. Document Signed (“Yo El Rey”), on paper, in Spanish. “En Palacio” [i.e., Madrid], 1 March 1815. Folio (29.8 cm, 12.75"), 4 pp.
$700.00
On 11 February 1815 the king conceded Doña María Josefa d’Alouise, widow of Don Juan Carlos Benavides, the power to attempt recovery of 8356 reales and 6 maravides de velón of annual income from her late husband’s entailed estate (i.e., mayorazgo). He here expands his earlier decree and orders the current holder of the entail to give the said sum annually to her, provided she does not remarry or take religious vows.
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)
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What Would Now Be Called a
“Feeler” or “Heads-Up”?
Herrera y Cisneros, Gaspar de. Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed correspondent On paper, in Spanish. Spain: 26 November 1612. Folio (30.8 cm; 12. 125"). [1] p., lacking the integral address leaf.
$100.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Herrera seeks help with financial matters relating to an inheritance; he does not, in this probably “introductory” missive, specify their nature.
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)
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The Mining Revival & The Father of
Mexican Independence
Hidalgo, Miguel de, Father of Mexican Independence. Document Signed (Br. Hidalgo), on paper, in Spanish. No place [mining region of Real de Bolaños or Aguas Calientes], no date [1780]. Folio, 1 p., bound in a dossier of documents relating to the execution of the provisions of the will of Augustina Velázquez. [with] A number of other collateral documents relating to the Condes de Vivanco. On paper, in Spanish. Mexico City, Real de Bolaños, Aguas Clientes, Valladolid (now Morelia), and elsewhere in Mexico. Folio (31 cm, 12.25") and smaller.
Approximately
350 ff.
$7500.00
In 1780 Augustina Velázquez died and her will provided, among other things, for a huge number of masses to be said for her. Subsidy for the masses was spread among the priests in the mining region where she had lived Real de Bolaños and Aguas Calientes. Those receiving sums of money signed receipts, and among the dozens was a newly ordained minister who signed his receipt "Br. Hidalgo." The young bachiller became famous in 1810 for initiating the uprising that began the eleven-year struggle for Mexican Independence.
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 marvelous
calligraphic 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)
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Royal Household Affairs
Partial Payment for Her Majesty's
Tapestry
Isabel I, Queen of Spain. Document on paper, in Spanish, signed "Yo la Reyna." Granada, 8 May 1501. Folio (31.2 cm, 12.25"). [1] p.
$4000.00
On the top half of this page the Queen orders Sancho de Parades, her chamberlain, to pay Germán de Paris and his partner Jacques 22,600 maravides remaining on the 78,600 maravides that she owes them for a tapestry. The woven piece is a gift for a church, and includes 12 depictions of the royal coat of arms.
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)

A Woman Brings a Case
& WINS
Martinez Insausti, Pedro. Manuscript document. Zaragoza: 13 July 1615. Folio (30.8 cm; 12.125"). [1] p.
$100.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Antonio Miravete, a notary public of Zaragoza, certifies that Pedro and his wife Juana Beatriz appeared before him and swore they had received 62,000 sueldos from Pedro Jimenez de Murillo, secretary to His Majesty, which money the courts ordered him to pay as a result of a legal case brought by Juana Beatriz.
Disoloration alone the horizontal middle of the leaf; small holes at same area. Overall good++. Clear, easy notarial hand. (31215)

A Very Early Mexican Notarial Form
Ocharte before 1565
Mexican notarial form. Carta de poder. [Mexico: Pedro Ocharte, before 9 October 1565]. Folio (31.5 cm, 12.5"). [1] f.
$2200.00
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This leaf contains one notarial form, extending from the recto onto the verso. The characteristics of the recto are: Type face: gothic. Imprint area: 220 x 153 mm. Number of lines of text: 35. First line: Sepan quantos esta carta vieren como yo First line of main text: paraque por mi y en mi nombre podays pedir y demandar auer recebir y cobrar Last line: quieran mi presencia o mas especial poder Otrosi vos doy este dicho poder para Blanks: at end of line 1. Blank space between lines 1 & 2: 49 mm.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, bear
the 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)
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Supreme Court Documents
Olañeta, Casimiro. Five MS. Letters Signed, to the Secretary of State at the Office of Justice. Sucre, 11 March 12 May 1858. On paper, in Spanish. Folio, 8 pp.
$725.00
The president of the Bolivian Supreme Court writes concerning the receipt of official decrees (11 March), the salaries of court employees (6 April), the court's opinion in the matter of substitute judges in the civil section of the judicial system (9 April), the court's decision to press criminal charges against a lawyer who had impugned the dignity of the court (10 May), and the court's opinion regarding the official title of judges in certain criminal cases (12 May).
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)

How to Conduct a (Particular) Residencia Hearing
Philip IV, King of Spain. Manuscript document. On paper, in Spanish. Madrid: 31 October 1625. Folio (31 cm; 12.125"). [4] pp. (and 2 blank leaves).
$875.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Diego de Faxardo had been the corregidor of Merida del Campo and he is scheduled to undergo the residencia hearing that will assess his term of office. Here the king gives specific instructions to the residencia judge as to who should be called to testify and who should not.
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)

Doing
BUSINESS in Mexico in 1834
Quesedo, Tomas. Autograph Letter Signed, in Spanish, on paper, to Abraham Miller. Mexico City [“S.C.”]: 13 October 1834. Small 4to, [2] pp.
$125.00
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The Interesting Estate of the Choir Master
Popayán,
1621
Ramírez Carrillo, Alonso. Manuscript document, unsigned. On paper, in Spanish. Peñafiel, Spain, 1621. Folio (31 cm; 12.25"). 15 ff.
$500.00
Detailed here is the last will and testament of the choir master of Popayán, Colombia. Ramírez was an absentee office holder, for he lived in Peñafiel, Spain, indulged in this failure to take up his duties in the New World by the bishop of Popayán—who happened to be his uncle. The choir master’s wealth was considerable and while not itemized as in an estate inventory, it is more than hinted at via the bequests here of real estate (with provenance), of silver and gold chalices and crosses, and of cash in the form of coin. The bequests also give an interesting picture of the size of his family and the ranking of nieces, nephews, etc.
Certified, contemporary copy of the original.
Sewn. In good condition. Very legible notarial hand. (7710)
Ramírez Carrillo, Alonso. Document (“escritura pública de donación”). In Spanish, on paper. Peñafiel, Spain, 24 April 1615. Folio. [10] pp.
$450.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Don Alonso Ramírez was the past choir master of Popayán, Colombia, and by this document gives various properties to María de la Puente, widow of Diego Ramírez Carrillo (Don Alonso’s nephew) and Doña Isabel Ramírez Carrillo, Maria’s daughter. The properties include a vineyard (“nueve viñas” that Don Alonso bought from Diego on 9 March 1591; another (“viña a Manzanillo”) that he bought from Juan Arranz, the elder, citizen of Manzanillo, on 7 December 1612; a third vineyard (“viña a Majuelo”) that he purchased from Francisco Santos and his wife (María Muñoz), citizens of Manzanillo, on 20 April 1614; a piece of land in Manzanillo, in the region called “tierras de las Tapias,” sown with two cargas of seed, purchased from Gaspar Decian on 6 January 1586; and a house in the parish of Nuestra Señora de Mediavilla that he purchased on 16 July 1605 from the administrators of the trust that Joratalina Sarmiento established.
A contemporaneous certified copy of the original document.
Written in a clear notarial hand. Very good condition. (14466)

Vizcaino & Serra Letters in
Extremely Good 19th-Century Facsimiles
(Spanish-era California). Three excellent photographic copies of autograph letters in the Archivo General de Indias. [copies made in Seville: Establecimiento Tipografico y Litografico “El Porvenir”, 1884]. Folio (31 cm, 12.5"). [1], [2], [3] pp.
$275.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Each facsimile has this note on it: “Photographed from the original preserved in the 'Archivo General de Indias' de Sevilla, under Royal Order dated Madrid December 26th, 1883 for Aldoph Sutro, Esq. of San Francisco, California,” and the typographic imprint above.
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)
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A Bespoke Cedulario for
Use in New Spain & Guatemala
(Spanish Royal Decrees). An assemblage of 43 manuscript and printed royal and viceroyal decrees and some 25 related documents. Barcelona, Madrid, Valldolid (Spain), Aranjuez, Mexico City, & elsewhere: 1701–79. Small 4to, folio, & larger. Approximately 135 ff.
$8275.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Explaining why manuscript cedularios were made in the era of the printing press is called for here, and the answer is simple: The number of copies that were printed of any given royal cédula tended to be smaller than the number of lawyers, clerks, judges, and other legal sorts who needed a copy. And within months of the issuance of the decree, no printed copies were available for love or money. Owning the various editions of the Recopilación de leyes de Indias was insufficient, for most cédulas related to
specific issues peculiar to one person, place, institution, or event, and such specificity is not included in the recopilaciones, though the royal decrees provided good, useful precedents to cite.
QED: Every colonial-era lawyer had to resort to maintaining his own cedulario.
This cedulario was assembled in Mexico during the 18th century, probably around 1778 or 1780, for the use of a lawyer before the audiencia, or perhaps for an audiencia judge or a judge's staff member. The decrees relate to a wide variety of topics: criminal cases, the army and navy, confiscation of property, the use of stamped paper, the royal treasury, royal officials in Nicaragua, cabildos, proselytization of Indians, commodities, dress codes, bigamy, and other social matters in the regions of Mexico, New Galicia, and Guatemala. Of the 43 items, 22 are printed decrees (all but one printed in Spain) and the remaining 21 are manuscript. Fifteen bear
true (rather than stamped) royal signatures: six are signed by Felipe V, and nine are by Ferdinand VI. Of the 28 documents not signed by a king, 17 are printed and 11 are manuscript.
The documents are sewn and were once bound; binding removed some time ago. 18th-century numbering of documents shows that 10 documents were removed som time before the collection came into our hands. There are some stains, a few holes at folds, a few edges a little tattered — nothing worse.
A sound and interesting collection. (34851)

Colonial Support for the
Royal Retreat MS. Accounting, 178185
(Subsidies for the Escorial). Contemporary copy of a manuscript, on paper, in Spanish. Lima, 1787. Folio, 23 pp.
$1000.00
Certified copy of a document relating to the 13,200 ducats annually due the monks of the monastery of the Escorial in Spain, promised them in perpetuity by King Philip IV in 1654. In exchange for this annual subsidy of proceeds from encomiendas in Huaylas, Chuquitanta, Conchucas, and other regions in Peru, the monks promised to say masses and to do certain other religious acts for the crown. This document contains specific and detailed accounting data for the years 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, and 1785.
Sewn, in good condition. (2218)

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