This collection consists of over 1,300 books and manuscripts, spans a period of over two centuries (1556 to 1824), and offers scholars a unique opportunity to study Mexico’s cultural, historical, literary, and religious past.  Many of the items in this collection are rarely, if ever, seen in their original format.  The content of this collection appeals to researchers from different disciplines, including scholars interested in the study of history, religion, literature, politics, art and architecture, history of the book, linguistics, and other topics relating to life in, and the history of, New Spain and, by extension, the “New World.”

Mexican Incunabula

Colonial Mexican Sermons

Sample highlights of the collection:

Painting honoring a community’s commitment to the local parish.  Oil on board, c.1670

Fray Alonso de la Veracruz.  Speculum coniugiorum editum. . . .  Mexico: Juan Pablos, 1556.  A manual on marriage produced by the first printer in the Western Hemisphere.

Bartolome de Ledesma.  Summa de los scaramentos.  Mexico: Antonio de Espinosa, 1566.  A doctrinal treatise printed by a former associate of Juan Pablos, the type cutter and second printer in the New World Antonio de Espinosa.

Benito Fernandez.  Doctrina christiana en lengua mixteca.  Mexico: Ocharte, 1568.  A rare translation of basic Catholic doctrines into the Tepuzculula dialect.  Pedro Ocharte, the third printer in Mexico, inherited his shop from his father-in-law, Juan Pablos.

Alonso Garcia Palomo.  Carta de hidalguia.  Mexico City, 1591.  A letter of nobility, elaborately illuminated and illustrated throughout.

Tribunal de la Inquisicion en Mexico.  Nos los inquisidores apostolicos. . . .  Broadside.  Mexico: n.p., 1783.  An inquisitorial edict which addresses the problem of sexual solicitation during confession.

[image collections: painting; Juan Pablos tp; Carta de hidalguia]

 

Colonial Mexican Imprint Collection at the Cushing Library

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View the complete inventory list.

Online Collection

[Link to online exhibit page / pdf of catalog]