Subject Guides: Modern Languages and Cultural Studies (MLCS): Colonial Latin America

Background Information

Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica
ISBN: 9780810870963
The Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology
Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America
Diccionario biográfico español by Real Academia de la Historia (Spain) Partial contents: v. 26. Hernández Rodríguez - Ibn Riḍwān -- v. 27. Ibn Rušayd - Jiménez de Gregorio -- v. 28. Jiménez del Guazo - Larcius Priscus -- v. 29. Lardito Camposaprani - Llobet Gràcia -- v. 30. Llobet i Reverter - López y de Vega -- v. 31. López de Vega - Manfredi Cano -- v. 32. Manfredo de Sicilia - Martín Díez -- v. 33. Martín Díez - Matos y Massieu -- v. 34. Matos de Noronha - Mestre Artigas -- v. 35. Mestre y Bosch - Montoya -- v. 36. Montoya - Muñoz -- v. 37. Muñoz - Nubiola Espinós -- v. 38. Nueda y Santiago - Ortega y Díez -- v. 39. Ortega Domínguez - Paraíso Lasús -- v. 40. Páramo - Pérez de Cebreros -- v. 41. Pérez Cecilia - Porcell -- v. 42. Porcell y Famanía - Recesvindo de Córdoba -- v. 43. Recesvinto - Rodríguez de Losada -- v. 44. Rodríguez Lucero - Sáez Manzanares -- v. 45. Sáez Martínez - Santa Cruz Blasco -- v. 46. Santa Cruz y Calaumana - Solé Rovira -- v. 47. Solé i Sabarís - Tolosa Latour -- v. 48. Tolrá - Valerius Propinquus -- v. 49. Valerius Propinquus Granius Grattius Cerealis Geminius Restitutus - Villacreces -- v. 50. Villacreces - Zuya.
Call Number: DP 58 D533 2009 v.1-50

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Mesoamerican Sources

Biblioteca digital mexicana
Amoxcalli
Digitized codices and glyph dictionary
Mexican Broadsides: Early 1600s to 1899 This collection comprises broadsides (single and double-sided, one-sheet documents) produced in Mexico between the early 1600s and 1899. They include religious and government documents on a wide range of topics. The government documents include correspondence between representatives from a range of state and federal agencies, gubernatorial and presidential administrations, and state and national legislatures.
Archivo General de Centro America, 1544-1821. Guatemala The following description is from The William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University Libraries. The Archivo General de Centro America (General Archive of Central America) was founded in Guatemala City, Guatemala to hold the government records of this region. These records outline the conquest and governance of Central America by Guatemala and its provinces: Chiapas, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The archive in Guatemala contained records which were deteriorating from the effects of moisture and insects. In 1970, at the urging of Dr. John Browning, then Associate Professor of Spanish at McMaster University, University Librarian William Ready, along with Business Manager Arthur Lawrence visited Guatemala. A contract was signed allowing the archives to be microfilmed for scholarly studies. The microfilmed documents are arranged and were filmed by province (later country): Chiapas, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Within each geographical location, arrangement is by type of document: A1, Superior Gobierno (Central Government); A2, Capitania Generale (Judicial, Economic, and Military); A3 Real Hacienda (Exchequer, Court Documents, Accounts, and Taxation).
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See finding aids for more information,
El Archivo General de Centro America. Finding Aid
Guide to Archivo General de Centro America, 1544-1821
Some of the collection has been digitized and is available from the Center for Research Libraries (CRL)
Obispos y Prebendas de Chiapa
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See also, cd copy located at call number BX 4671.5 A73 2013
Obispados y Prebendas en Guatemala en las cuatro diocesis
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See also, cd copy located at call number BX 4671.5 A73 2013
Latin American history and culture : an archival record. Series I, The Yale University collection of Latin American manuscripts
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See also, library catalog record
See Author Index finding aidTo request microfilm copy the above link, then submit an RCRF Microform/Newspaper Request Form
Latin American history and culture : an archival record. Series II, Serials and printed materials from Harvard University
Latin American history and culture [microform] : an archival record. Series 9. Collections from the Latin American Library, Tulane University part 1 : Viceregal and ecclesiastical Mexican collection This collection of colonial Latin American manuscripts contains diverse records from church, state, and other sources for the time period 1534-1919, however, the highest concentration of documents are from the late eighteenth century to 1820.
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See also Dr. Michael Polushin's Introduction and Ruth Olivera's Collection Guide at Tulane University
See also Dr. Michael Polushin's online Finding Aid
Colony in Crisis: Saint-Domingue Grain Shortage of 1789
Primeros Libros de las Americas Primary sources from Mesoamerica

South American Sources

Guide to Documentary Sources for Andean Studies, 1530-1900 Published in Collaboration with the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art A definitive resource for early works on indigenous Andean cultures Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the first half of the sixteenth century, Andean peoples had no tradition of writing. For this reason, texts written by early modern European chroniclers and later Andean authors are a critical source of information on the Andes. This landmark three-volume reference work inventories the principal sources useful for the study of the region?particularly its Prehispanic and vice-regal cultures?covering relevant texts from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century. With written contributions by 122 scholars from nineteen countries and amply illustrated with drawings, engravings, photographs, and maps, the Guide offers new perspectives on key works and reflects substantial changes in historical and cultural studies of the past fifty years. The first volume contains twenty-nine essays about the origin and nature of the sources, focusing on recent research and interpretations. The subjects covered range from Andean knotted-string records and colonial bookmaking to legal affairs and natural history. The essays also address topics relatively new to Andean studies, such as popular drama, travel accounts, and the influence of the classical tradition in the Andes. Volumes 2 and 3 list specific authors alphabetically and discuss their texts. The entries contain such information as biographical data, locations of manuscripts, publication history, translations, and references to secondary literature. The Guide is an indispensable research tool for scholars and students of pre-Columbian and colonial Andean studies, particularly in anthropology, archaeology, religious studies, history, and art history. It underscores the cultural complexities of the European presence in the Andean region and helps readers gain a deeper understanding of the varied purposes and perspectives of these records.  
ISBN: 9780806138176

Colonial Sources

Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
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Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500–1926 This link opens in a new window
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Contains text in Algonquian, Cherokee, Chocktaw, Dakota, Danish, Delaware, Dutch, English, Finnish, French / Français, German, Greek, Hawaiian, Iroquoian, Italian, Latin, Maori, Mohawk, Nahuatl, Norwegian, Ojibwa, Osage, Portuguese, Salishan, Samoan, Spanish and Swedish languages.
Colonial America This link opens in a new window
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Archives of Latin American and Caribbean History, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century This link opens in a new window
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Colonial State Papers This link opens in a new window
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Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969 This link opens in a new window Papers generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices, from one page letters or telegrams to large volumes or texts of treaties. All items marked "Confidential Print" were printed and circulated immediately to leading officials in the Foreign Office, to the Cabinet, and to Heads of British missions abroad.
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Church Missionary Society Periodicals This link opens in a new window Includes publications from the Church Missionary Society and the latterly integrated South American Missionary Society. Documents missionary work from the 19th to the 21st century.
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PARES: Portal de Archivos Españoles
Spanish Legal Documents (15th-19th Centuries) The majority of Spanish legal documents in the collection are briefs, i.e., forensic writings related to disputes on inheritance and titles of nobility, taxes, church privilege and the like. Items of special interest include documents pertaining to the Spanish Inquisition; papal bulls and ecclesiastical concordats; as well as laws, statutes, instructions and decrees of Spanish kings and government officials.
Bibliografia Mesoamericana
SALALM Latin American & Caribbean Digital Primary Sources This site hosts a database of listings that provide links to open access digitized collections of primary sources that relate to Latin America and the Caribbean. The materials listed are freely available to the public and were created or are hosted at an academic institution associated with SALALM (Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials), either through institutional membership or through the personal membership of a staff member. Currently, the listings may be searched by country, genre/format, hosting institution, and collection title. Questions about the content of the listed collections or their links should be directed to the host library or archive. Please note that digital collections may be continuously added to. You are encouraged to revisit for updates and to revisit our site for newly added content to the database.
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See tutorial to learn to use the database
Catálogo Colectivo de Impresos Latinoamericanos hasta 1851 (CCILA) The Catálogo Colectivo de Impresos Latinoamericanos hasta 1851 (CCILA) is an ongoing effort to catalog the printed heritage of Latin America and the Philippines before 1851. As a bibliography, it provides a census of surviving works. As a union catalog, CCILA will list institutional holdings for those works and will endeavor to identify microfilm and digital surrogates. It is a large-scale cooperative effort, designed to involve every library in Europe, the Americas, or the Philippines possessing relevant materials. To request microfilm copy the above link, then submit an RCRF Microform/Newspaper Request Form
Biblioteca digital hispanica freely accessible portal to the BNE Library's digital collections

Paleographic Tools

Spanish Paleography Tool
Paleografías Americanas
The Huexotzinco Codex - Lesson Plan Students will analyze a set of pictograph documents created by native peoples of Puebla, Mexico in 1531. Students will take on the role of historians, study the documents, and create a scenario to explain what these documents were for, who created them, and why. The codex was an accounting of excess taxation and students will decode the images and tabulate the quantities of goods paid to the local government.

Research Guides

Archaeology
by Rutherford Library Last Updated Jul 27, 2023 257 views this year