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PART A - ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1. Identity and Location
2. Legal Information
3. Identification
4. Management plan
5. Assessment
against the Selection Criteria
6. Consultation
7. Nominator
PART B - SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
8. Assessment of Risk
9. Preservation
Assessment
PART A ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1.1 Name of documentary heritage
History Documentary Group
1.2 Country
Mexico
1.3 State, province or region
Mexico City
1.4 Address
Eduardo Molina y Albañiles, Colonia Penitenciaría Ampliación,
Postal Code 15350
1.5 Name of Organization or Institution
Archivo General de la Nación
2.1 Owner
Archivo General de la Nación
2.2 Custodian
Archivo General de la Nación
2.3 Legal Status
A decentralized body under the authority of the Secretaría de
Gobernación
a) Owner: Public
b) Details of legal and administrative provisions for the preservation
of the documentary heritage:
3.1 Description and inventory
This documentary group is identified in the General Guide as Nº
257 within the division Collections and Documents. It comprises
600 volumes, amounting to 43 linear metres, and covers the chronological
period from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. This collection was
brought together over almost two centuries, and consequently the order
is not identical throughout, nor is the chronological sequence uniform.
However, volumes dedicated to the same subject, matter or institution may
be identified. The following elements stand out among the great wealth
of information it contains. The number of the volume where they are located
is indicated in brackets. List of the first lords of Teotihuacan (1); Perpetual
astrological wheels of the Mexican Indians ... (1); Impeachment Proceedings
against Hernán Cortés (585); Impeachment of Hernán
Cortés ... (585); Sonnet 28 “Al milagro que obró Nuestra
Señora de Guadalupe en la inundación de México” (“On
the miracle worked by Our Lady of Guadalupe during the flood of Mexico”)
(1); File on payments for the construction of the Cathedral in Mexico City
(94); On the construction of the Royal Collegiate of Guadalupe (79); Michoacán
Chronicle ... (9-11); Exploration of the coasts of California (63); Esteban
Martínez's letters on the Sandwich Islands (65); Decision of the
civil prosecutor on the creation of the General Archive (267); Correspondence
between Revillagigedo and Antonio Alzate regarding population and consumption
(74); Songs of Netzahualcoyotzin , Emperor of Texcoco (3); Goods passing
through the Mexican customs from China (76); Mexican Chronicle by Fernando
de Alva Ixtlixóchitl (13); Sailing log of the journeys of Jacinto
Caamaño in North America (71); Regulations for the General Archive
and budget to set it up in Chapultepec (267 bis); News of the last ship
from the Philippines (75); Humboldt's geopolitical tables (72); Abolition
of slavery signed by Morelos (596); Constitutional Decree granting freedom
to Mexican America (599); Trial of General Vicente Guerrero (587), among
many others.
3.2 Bibliographic/Registration details
3.3 Visual documentation
Photographs of the documentary group are attached.
3.4 History
This collection began with the project of the Spanish government to
draft the General History of the Indies (Historia General de Indias). To
this end, an order was drafted in 1780 so that the viceroy Martín
de Mayorga could request the Veytia, Boturini and other manuscripts from
the Royal University of Mexico. The Veytia manuscripts were sent to Spain
in 1783. A subsequent request was received relating to the manuscripts
mentioned by Clavijero in his Historia Antiqua, and later the viceroy
Manuel Antonio de Flores sent excepts of the work of Fr. Morfi and Fr.
Tello. Another order dated 21 February 1790 requested copies of the Boturini
papers and other manuscripts. The list included 16 items: documents from
the Boturini Museum; the Alva Ixtlilxóchitl accounts; report by
Juan de Palafox to the Count of Salvatierra; Memorandum of Carlos de Sigüenza
y Góngora; the Sigüenza document relating to the theatre of
political virtues; book on the life and death of Tlaxcaltec children; Mexican
manuscript on the history of Tlaxcala; account of the conquest of the kingdom
of New Galicia; account of New Mexico by Fr. Gerónimo Zárate
Salmerón; letter from Fr. Silvestre Vélez Escalante and the
New Mexico restoration panel; report by Fr. Alonso de Posada on the lands
of New Mexico; the Indian calendar; songs of Nezahualcoyotzin; end of the
story of Texas by Morfi; Indian journey and New Mexico diary; end of the
story of the settlers of North America written by Mariano Veytia. A general
provision in the same order requested copies of documents which might prove
useful to illustrate antiquities and the civil, ecclesiastical and natural
history of America. As a result of this order, the viceroy Revillagigedo
ordered Fr. Francisco García Figeroa and Fr. Manuel de la Vega of
the San Francisco Convent to select and copy the requisite documents. The
result was 32 volumes titled Colección de Memorias de la Nueva España
(Memoirs of New Spain). In 1792 these volumes were sent to Spain to be
used in the preparation of the above-mentioned work, but one copy was kept
at the Secretaría de la Cámara and another remained in the
hands of the Franciscans. In the nineteenth century, the Archive Regulations
(Reglamento del Archivo), drafted by José María Lafragua
in 1846, include the continuation of the History section and indicate that
there was to be a general history where all the documents relating to the
history of the nation would be kept. In 1872, the volumes of the Secret
Archive of the Spanish Government (Archivo Secreto del Gobierno Español)
were incorporated.
3.5 Bibliography
4 Management Plan - See Annex 1
5. Assessment
Against the Selection Criteria
5.1 Assessment of the documentary heritage against each criterion
described in Annex 2
Influence
This group is significant as it is a fund of information, both written
and visual. It includes documentation not only on Mexico but also on other
countries in the world. It has been influential in the formation of similar
collections elsewhere.
Time
Sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. During the period when this collection
was started, ideas of change abounded and forms of expression emphasizing
links to a certain territory and its moral and social values enjoyed support.
Subject/Theme
It covers subjects from the time of the Conquest relating to several
regions of the present Republic of Mexico, North America, Central America,
the Caribbean, some parts of South America and Asia as well as church matters,
pre-Hispanic traditions etc..
Form and Style
Mainly chronicles, accounts, geographical descriptions, etc..
Social Value
As a compilation of important documents, it is a vehicle for the legitimization
or support for belonging to a certain territory or group. Adequate knowledge
of its content provides us with a sense of identity.
5.2 Contextual Assessment including an assessment of the importance
of a series of documents, the importance of a series of documents in a
particular setting, and the assessment against other documentary heritage
This is one of the richest and most significant historical collections
in the world.
5.3 Evaluation of Authenticity
Original documents.
5.4 Assessment of Rarity - if appropriate
Unique items.
6.1 Details of consultation about the nomination with the:
(a) Owner
(b) Custodian
(c) Relevant regional or National memory of the World Committee
(if appropriate)
7.1 Name
Licenciada Patricia Galeana
7.2 Relationship to the Documentary Heritage
Director General of the Archivo General de la Nación
7.3 Contact Person - if appropriate
Víctor Manuel Pérez Pineda (Engineer)
7.4 Contact Details
Director of Information and Documentation
PART B SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
8.1 Nature and Scope of the Threats to the Documentary Heritage.
Political Climate - voluntary information
The political situation in Mexico is stable and social conditions peaceful.
Possible differences of opinion are resolved through democratic channels.
9.1 Present Physical State
Their condition is fair.
History of Preservation
In order to guarantee their preservation, some volumes have been treated
and a number of bindings have been changed.
Current Preservation Policy in relation to proposed nominated documentary
heritage
The area where the documents are kept is fumigated periodically and
the temperature and humidity measured in order to ensure that the documents
are being kept under acceptable conditions.
Person or organization responsible for preservation
Sept. of Preservation and Restoration which depends on the Archivo
General de la Nación.