Historia 21 
Geronimo Zarate Salmeron; (10) La Carta del Padre Fray Silvestre Vélez 
Escalante y el Quaderno de la Restauracion del Nuevo Mexico; (11) El 
Ynforme del Padre Fr. Alonso de Posadas sobre las Tierras del Nuevo Mex- 
ico; (12) El Kalendario Yndiano; (13) Los Cantares de Nezahualcoyotzin ; 
(14) El fin de la Historia de Texas [by Morfi] ; (15) El Viage de Yndios y 
Diario del Nuevo Mexico [by Morfi] ; (16) El fin de la Historia de los Pobla- 
dores de esta America septentrional, escrita por Don Mariano Veytia”.” A 
general provision of the same order called for copies of documents serviceable 
“to illustrate the antiquities, geography, and history, civil, ecclesiastical and 
natural, of America”. 
In consequence of the foregoing order Viceroy Revilla Gigedo had copied, 
under the direction of Father Francisco Figueroa, of the convent of San 
Francisco, thirty-two volumes of documents, under the title of ‘‘ Coleccién de 
Memorias de Nueva Espafia”’. Together with a letter of transmittal dated 
December 31, 1792 (no. 515), the volumes were despatched to Spain for use 
in the preparation of the history, but the triplicates remained in the Secre- 
taria del Virreinato, and now constitute the first thirty-two volumes of the 
Section of History of the Archivo General y Publico.” 
The first six volumes of the “ Memorias de Nueva Espafia” contain the 
documents called for in the list in the order of February 21, 1790, except that 
numbers 7, 14, and 16 of the list are not included. Volumes 7-11 contain the 
“Chronicles of Michoacan”. The remaining twenty-one volumes contain 
documents compiled from various archives in obedience to the general pro- 
vision of the order requiring other classes of useful documents. 
As has already been pointed out (see Garrison, op. cit.), in spite of Father 
Figueroa’s certificate in each volume that the contents are faithful copies 
from their originals, these transcripts can not always be relied upon. To take 
a single example, a comparison of the De Méziéres letters in volume 28 with 
the official copies and originals which have been discovered elsewhere, shows 
not mere verbal changes here and there, but a considerable abridgment of the 
text, and even the changing of the narrative from the first to the third person. 
Considering these facts and knowing the standards of copying in vogue at 
the time when the collection was made, it is not at all improbable that the 
three official copies (principal, duplicate, and triplicate) differ considerably 
from each other as well as from the originals. Fortunately, scattered through 
various parts of the Archivo General y Publico and in other repositories, there 
have been discovered many, if not a majority, of the originals from which 
the ‘‘ Memorias ” copies were made. Since this is the case, the absolute value 
of the compilation is much less than it otherwise would be and has hitherto 
been considered. 
An incomplete copy of the “ Memorias ” is in the Bancroft Collection at the 
University of California and another in the New York Public Library. Con- 
siderable portions (volumes 2, 3, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and parts of volumes 
1, 24, 26) of the collection have been printed in Documentos para la Historia 
bd 
* G. P. Garrison, in the Nation, May 30, I9o1. 
# Excepting vol. 1, which is a copy secured in 1882 from the original in Spain to 
replace the volume which for many years had been lost. See Juan de Dios Uribe, report 
of June 10, 1823, in the Archivo General, Secretaria de Relaciones, Seccién de Archivo 
General, caja 1823-1827; and that of F. P. de Urquide, Sept. 6, 1873, ibid., caja 1872-1874. 
Essentially the same facts, drawn indirectly from Sefior Urquide’s report, are given by 
Garrison in the Nation, May 30, 1901, pp. 430-431. The facts concerning the replacing 
of the lost volume 1 were gathered from correspondence in the same archive and section, 
caja 1872-1874. 
