CULTURAL READINGS: Colonization & Print in the Americas

Jay I. Kislak Foundation

Antonio de Mendoza, Relacion de las ceremonias...de los Indios de la Provencia de Mechoaca. Manuscript: mid-18th century? 560 pages.

Mendoza, a Spanish nobleman, was appointed as the first Viceroy of New Spain in 1535. In his effort on behalf of the Spanish Crown to consolidate the Spanish conquests, Mendoza undertook to survey New Spain, and the Codex Mendoza, compiled c. 1541, records information about Tenochtitlan, as well as Aztec society and laws. This manuscript is an 18th century copy of a separate 16th century work investigating native customs and government. It contains numerous watercolors depicting Mexican village life, religious ceremonies, and even scenes of cannibalism. While the visual materials may simply reflect Spanish impressions, Mendoza's work nonetheless seems to have been based in part on testimony by native informants.

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