Item Summary

Anonymous. Manuscript on native paper. In Spanish with native glyphs and drawings. [Mexico: ca. 1590]. Folio (40.5 x 30.5 cm; 13.75" x 12"), pp. 69-72.,Either part of, or closely related to, the famous "relaciones geográficas" endeavor that the Spanish crown carried out in the late 1570s and through the 1580s (see: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/benson/rg/). Present on these pages are very brief accounts of the towns (i.e., "barios" [sic for "barrios'']) of San Antonio Nonoalco, Actipan, Amilpas, and Apan, all in the Mixcoac region. Each account of the town tells at a minimum what the principal activity/activities of the inhabitants is/are and gives the native glyph for the town, in color. The entry for San Antonio Nonoalco is typical: "San Antonio Nonoalco, on the banks of the river of the same name. Towards the north is the region of Mexica Indians, exempted in ancient times when all of these towns rendered tribute to Tenochtitlan. For this reason they are not well liked by their neighbors the Tepanecs, who much hatred and disdain them, as do all or the towns of this region. . . . After the conquest by the Marques [del Valle de Oaxaca] they--the Nonoalcans--remained under the jurisdiction of Mixcoac and Coyoacan, which Indian republic governed them, although they were subject to the marquesado of Oaxaca." Below is the glyph for "Nonoalco" in the Aztec writing system. Rather more exciting is the description for Actipan: "On the road that goes to Atoyoac and Tlacocmecan is the town of Actipan that is [composed of] field workers and the ground is very fertile that borders Tlacocmeca, out of which arise the disputes for the land that they work and thus there have been deaths and injuries, as happened during the full moon in Scorpio in the year [15]45 when they confronted each other in battle and there were six dead and many wounded on both sides." Below is a large (22.3 x 17.5 cm; 7" x 9") depiction of a battle scene in which the native wear a mix of indigenous garb and European (including hats) and with the dead clearly depicted. After a further discussion of the legal wranglings that followed, the town glyph is given. Fold tears at middle of the bifolium, with a repair using a piece of European paper with one word in Nahuatl in a 16th-century hand. Soiling at edges.