The cornerstone of the Spanish colonial enterprise in South America, Peru was subjugated in the first two decades of the 16th century, and for almost three centuries thereafter, its mines and people nourished the entire economy of the Spanish empire.

Scope and contents:

Collection of miscellaneous manuscripts relating to Peru. It contains the following items:

• "De Justa indiarum Occidentalium gubernatione Liber quartus [et Liber quintus] in quo agitur de his que ad fiscum Regium in his partibus pertinent, et ejus juribus," 436 pp.

  This work may be that of Solorzano (1575-1655), a native of Madrid who taught at the University of Salamanca. In 1609 Solorzano was appointed to the audiencia of Peru and was sent there to gather material on the government of the colonies, which he was to discuss in a lengthy report. In 1618 Solorzano sent a manuscript of his De Jure Indiarum to the king for approval and permission to continue his work. He returned to Spain in 1627 and two years later the first part of this work was published; the second part appeared in 1639.

  The Clements manuscript bears little resemblance to the published De Jure Indiarum. It is devoted primarily to fiscal matters -- commercial law and money -- topics on which the printed work touches only slightly, suggesting that this manuscript may be the work of another author on the same general subject. However, Obadiah Rich wrote on a flyleaf: "Parece esta obra ser el borrador de la obra de Solorzano De Jure Indiarum"; possibly a rough draft of part of the manuscript which Solorzano sent to the king in 1618. Bound with it is a letter to the king, dated at Lima, March 9, 1614, consisting of a reply of the accountants of Peru to objections that had been made against their tribunal. Also included is the legal opinion of Don Carrasco del Saz on the claim of Mariana de Ulloa v. Maria de Sotomayor, printed in Lima.

• José Santiago Concha, "Relacion del estado que ha tenido, y tiene la Real Mina de Guancavelica y los intereses de la Real Hacienda en las dependencias del Azogue...Ano de 1726," copy, 290 pp.

  Concha, a native of Lima, Peru, was given the title Marqués de Casa Concha in 1718. He was a judge of the royal court, temporary president of the royal court of Chile, and governor of the district of Huancavelica, rich in silver and quicksilver mines. This copy of his report to his successor is dated at Huancavelica, June 26, 1726.

• An información of the tributes and taxes paid by the Indians of Peru, written about 1571 at the request of the viceroy, Don Francisco de Toledo. This manuscript is a nineteenth-century copy lacking a title page, 194 pp.

  Juan Polo de Ondegardo (d. 1575) was in Peru by 1545. A lawyer, he also held office as magistrate and tax collector in Potosi and Cuzco. He became interested in Inca civilization and wrote several reports on his observations. When Toledo was made viceroy of Peru in 1569, Polo de Ondegardo assisted him in establishing the system under which the Indians were ruled for the next two centuries. His Informaciones acerca de la religión y gobierno de los Incas..., unpublished until 1916-1917 in Lima, is based on a different manuscript.

• Lope de Atienza, "Compendio historial del estado de los Yndios del Perú, con mucha Doctrina y socas notables de Vitos costumbres é inclinaciones que tienen, con otra doctrina y avisos para los que viven entre estos Neophitos...," 370 pp.

  Probably of Portuguese origin, Lope de Atienza (1737-1596) became a priest and spent many years in Peru, one of the most devoted and respected missionaries laboring in that country during the sixteenth century. In this remarkable history, he discusses the problems that faced the missionaries because of the Indians' customs and manners. Atienza asserts that priests must hold the respect of Indians by exemplary behavior and urges the clergy to forget the dignity and pomp of the church and work humbly among the natives. Because the manuscript mentions Catherine as Queen of Portugal, it may have been written about 1580. In that year, the Portuguese crown was in dispute, and Catherine, duchess of Braganza, was a claimant, her right championed by the University of Coimbra. The next year, however, Philip II of Spain was recognized as sovereign. The original manuscript of this nineteenty-century copy is in the library of the Cathedral of Valencia, Spain.

• "Relación que escribe el Conde de Superunda, Virrey de el Perú, de los principales sucesos de su Govierno, de Real Orden de su Magestad, communicada por el Ex. Sr. Marqués de la Encenada, su Secretario del Despacho Universal, con fecha de 23 de Ag. de 1751. Está en dos partes, la primera comprende los Anos desde 9 de Julio de 1745, hasta fin del mismo mes en el de 1756, y la Seg. desde 1. de Ag. dedho Ano, hasta 12 de Octubre del de 1761," contemporary copy, 660 pp., with folding tables.

• Fragments of Peruvian history bound in one volume, 136 pp., relating to Inca society, early Spanish voyages, and other miscellaneous topics.

• Two replies to an anonymous criticism of the Relación Historica del Viage á la America Meridional... (Madrid, 1748) by Jorge Juan y Santacilia and Antonio de Ulloa and defenses of the Relación itself.

  The first is entitled "Defensa à favor de los Yndios de Quito contra la Critica que se publico en Paris por [!] Dn. Jorge Juan, y Dn. Antonio de Ulloa, Socios de las Academias de Paris y Londres, ambos Capitanes de fragata ye vasallos de S.M.C. sobre la relación ystorica del viage que de orden del Rey nán hechoaá las Americas Septentrional y Meridional, escrita por un Politico imparcial, que conociendo el gran meritto de los viageros, no puede parar pr. el Lunar con que se prettende eclipsar el honor de lost Yndios," 184 pp. The second is entitled "Judicio Imparcial, sobre la Critica que se hizo à dn. Jorge Juan y dn. Antonio de Ulloa de Critica del Viage, que de orden de S.M. hicieron à las Americas Septentrional y Meridional,'" 165 pp.

• Four viceregal reports dated 1667-1681, 4 volumes, on the state of Peru, eighteenth-century copies. These include:
  • "Relación de Govierno que hizo la Real Audiencia de Lima en vacante de el exmo senor virrey Conde de Santistevan a su succesor el de Lemus," November 15, 1667, 196 pp. This report was made the year after the death of the conde de Santistevan.

  • "Relación de Govierno que hace en vacante la Real Audiencia al exmo senor Virrey Conde de Castelar," August 1, 1674, 78 pp. This report was made two years after the death of the viceroy, Conde de Lemos.

  • "Relación de Govierno que el exmo sor. Virrey Conde de Castelar, marques de Malagon hace à su succesor, el Illmo sor. Arzobispo de Lima Dn. Melchor de Linan," August 4, 1681, 380 pp.

  • "Relación de Govierno que el exmo senor Dn. Melchor de Linan y Cisneros, Arzobispo de Lima, hace à su succesor el exmo senor Duque de la Palata," December 8, 1681, 366 pp.

Provenance:

Purchased, 1928

M-1797
Recat. 7/98 rsc

Subject index to the Peru Collection

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