Title: Tributes of Tzintzuntzan and Tlalpujava

Date: 1542-1552

Language: Otomí and Spanish

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

The manuscript depicts the tribute of Tarascan and Otomí Indians of the mines of Tzintzuntzan and Tlalpujava (Michocan, Mexico) in traditional Mexican Indian colonial picture writing and Spanish. The Indian drawings are on the recto only; the Spanish texts begin on the recto and continue on the verso. The main text is dated 1542 and this is thus the date of the drawings; a later legal statement is dated 1552.

The drawings are arranged in about 16 parallel horizontal lines. The drawings are outlined in black ink. The only other colors used are gray (used to color the hair of the Indians shown) and a faded yellow (used to color two different types of food). The drawings depict items of tribute and are typical of the conventionalized representations in Mexican Indian pictorial manuscripts of the mid-16^th century. Among the items shown are (from top to bottom) 100 bowls (shown by five platters each surmounted by the Indian sign for 20, a flag-like device known as "pantli"), 30 large bowls (the decorated containers surmounted by the "pantli" numeral and the ten attached circles), two turkeys (only their heads are shown), one load of maize, two loads of cotton, other objects representing various foods and articles of clothing, and 45 Indians (for service in the mines). At the bottom and inverted with respect to the other drawings is a 60 day calendar with every seventh day surmounted by a cross (representing Sundays). The calendar has to do with the periodicity of the tribute and is mentioned in the text.

The drawings may be identified by reference to the accompanying Spanish texts. The first of these is dated Mexico City, 1542 and this is probably the date of the paintings as well. The style of the drawings is that of the Valley of Mexico and it is probably that the drawings were done in Mexico City and not in Michoacan.

The manuscript bears four different texts in Spanish. The first occupies 21 lines on the recto (the first six of which are very faded) and continues for six lines on the verso, followed by various signatures. The second, third, and fourth texts are on the verso and occupy 10, 4 and 11 lines, respectively. The first, second, and fourth texts are by different 16^th century hands. In addition to these texts, a single line of gloss on the recto appears to read: "Información y comutación (?) de los Yndios Tarascos del pueblo de Acámbaro (?) que está en encomienda…."

Parts of the four texts are very difficult to read but fortunately they were transcribed by Fray Pablo Beaumont about 1776-1780 for his Crónica de Michoacan. In the 1932 edition the transcription is published in vol. 3, pp. 64-66. His rendering of the text contains inaccuracies (most serious is that of reading the date at the beginning of the fourth text as 1544; it should be read as 1552 - MDLII).

The first text is dated Mexico City, 20 November, 1542, and contains references to various "caciques," the mines of Tzintzuntzan and Tlalpujava, Tarascan and Otomí Indians, and to the items of tribute represented by the drawings. The second text contains similar material relating to the tribute but the relationship between the drawings and these two texts is not clear. The fourth text is dated 1552 and is a later legal statement concerning the tribute and the drawings. At several places in the texts there is an abbreviation of the name of a town read by Beaumont as Acámbaro (Guanajuato); whether this reading is correct or not awaits verification.

In addition to transcribing the text of the manuscript, Beaumont also copied the drawing. At the time his copy was made the manuscript was still in the Boturini collection and he refers to his use of that collection (Beaumont, 1932, 1: 6). The location of most of the original Beaumont manuscript is unknown but three copies were made in 1792 as part of the compilation known as the Colección de Memorias de Nueva España (CMNE, vols. 7-11) and through these copies numerous further copies have been made and are located in various institutions in Europe, the United States, and Mexico. In the 1932 edition of the Crónica the copy is reproduced in vol. 3, facing p. 64, after the CMNE copy in the Archivo General de la Nacion, Mexico. Other editions of the Crónica do not reproduce the copy.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Material and Layout: Single sheet of native (probably "amatl") paper; 92 x 43 cm.

PROVENANCE

The manuscript is no. 7 of List No. 3 of the collection given to the Institute for Advanced Study by Robert Garrett in 1942. It was described as lot no. 243 in the Sotheby and Co. auction catalog of November 9-10, 1936 (Sotheby and Co., 1936: 36). The description in that catalog is in error in stating, "… MS. in Otomí dialect…" but correctly reports the dates 1542 and 1552 that appear in the Spanish texts on the manuscript. It was purchased by Garrett in November of 1936 through or from the London firm of Bernard Quaritch. With the manuscript as a single page typescript description in French from which circumstance it would appear that it was in France before the 1936 sale.

On the verso of the manuscript is the inscription, "N^o 10 / 3 Inventario"; this is the Boturini collection inventory number that was applied in either 1743 or 1745. Short descriptions of the manuscript appear in five different inventories of the Boturini collection and are quoted below. Aside from the Boturini inventory number there are no other indications on the manuscript of prior ownership. 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.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Handbook of Middle American Indians (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964-1976), vol. 14, no. 379 (fig. 70).

Roskamp, H. Los codies de Cutzio y Huetamo: encomienda y tributo en la tierra caliente de Michoacan, siglo XVI, Zamora: Colegio de Michoacan, 2003, pp. 33-44; 143-45.

Author: Catholic Church

Title: Codex santorum novissime concessorum omnibus Hispaniarum invictissimo Regi Catholico subiectis, et vbique de gentibus

Date: 1751

Language(s): Latin

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

Sanctorale section of a Franciscan breviary, possibly written for, or for the use of Father Antonio Sotomayor in the city of Cuzco, Peru.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Material and Layout: Paper; 145 leaves; 16 x 11 cm.

Binding: Calf over pasteboards; looped cord from the bottom board to connect on the upper board (upper clasps missing); pages trimmed flush with boards

PROVENANCE

Includes the inscription, "Ad usum Patris Francisci Antonij á Sottomayor Seraphici Patris Nostri Francisci filii, in hac Sancti Antonij Provintia de gentis, Magno que Conv. Civitatis Cuzquenis anno MDCCLI," written in pen on first display page (p. [v]) before the calendar and another, "R.B. from K.B.G.," written in pen on front pastedown. 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 (Acc. no. AM 20159).

Title: Breve Tratado de Doctrina Christiana puesto en lengua mexicana por Fr. N [ ] de la R. Observancia de N.S.P.S. Francisco para mayor entendimiento de aquellos que con Sancto fervor y apostolico amor se dedican a iluminar con los fulgores de la Fe, a los Naturales de este Nuevo Reyno [missing line] convento de S. Bernardina, Taxco, en el año 1774.

Date: 1744

Language(s): Spanish and Nahuatl

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

Catechism written in Taxco (Mexico), partly in two columns.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Material and Layout: Paper; 22 leaves; 15 x 10 cm.

Binding: Original parchment

PROVENANCE

Previously owned by Robert Garrett with his ownership mark in pen on front flyleaf "R. G. Mexico. 1930" and also written on front flyleaf in pen "Miguel Diciembre de 1834." 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.

Author: Fuente, Jose Antonio Perez de la

Title: Traducese al Romance castellano, la Relación Mercuriana de la admirable Aparición de nuestra señora la Virgen Maria que esta en la lengua Mexicana Genuina

Date: 1709-18

Language: Spanish and Nahuatl

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

Contains a history of the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Nahuatl and Spanish, dated Amecameca, May 6, 1712) and various Catholic religious texts (prayers, sermons, "Doctrina Christiana", poems) in Nahuatl, some translated from published sources. Also includes a short satire (2 pp.) in Nahuatl from a comedy play performed in Tlayacapa in 1682; a "Confesionario" in Spanish and Nahuatl; "Para Ayudar a Bien Morir" in Nahuatl; Prayers in Nahuatl; "Festivo Dia del Alma" in Nahuatl. July 25, 1714 (and prayers-one taken from a published work of 1709). Hymns 1718, 1713, 1682, 1687, 1691, 1692, 1701, 1705, 1706, 1707, 1710, 1713. Translations. The Holy Name. Doctrina. Tlaxocallan, Mar. 17, 1709 (claim to have worked on it 1666-1713, Joseph Antonio Belez de la Fuente Amecameca. Varia 1709).

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Material and Layout: Paper; 74 leaves; 31 x 22 cm.

Binding: Bound with various old documents in Nahuatl and Spanish glued together as front and back covers.

PROVENANCE

According to the table of contents four parts are missing from this manuscript (ff. 1-89; 90-122; 135-145; and 150-160). These missing sections are described as being 4to or "en pliego" whereas the present parts of the manuscript are in folio. The manuscript was in its present size when first inventoried for the Boturini collection in 1743. Bears characteristic Boturini Collection inventory mark of either 1743 or 1745 which reads, "No 32 / Invento 8." (Number 32 of the 8th inventory). Later acquired by Jose Luis Bello from the library of Francisco del Paso y Troncoso, ca. 1916. There is a presentation inscription Jose Luis Bello to Dr. Nicolás León on the recto of the second unnumbered preliminary leaf. Later acquired by Robert Garrett (source unknown). 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.