EXPLANATIONS. 
METHODS. 
In the compilation of this Guide the order followed is that of the archives 
concerned. To bring out logical relations, dependence has been placed upon 
the Index. In the case of each archive it has been the aim to give a general 
statement of the origin of the collection, the relation of the office or the juris- 
diction from which it emanated to our national history, and a general state- 
ment of the classes of materials in the archive. Where practicable, and espe- 
cially in case of the more important collections, a more detailed statement of 
particular items of interest has been given; but this was not always feasible. 
For example, an exhaustive list alone of pertinent items in the two sections of 
the Archivo General y Piiblico known as Reales Cédulas y Ordenes and Cor- 
respondencia de los Virreyes would fill a good-sized volume. 
The method of designating materials has been determined altogether by 
practical convenience and utilitarian purposes. As a means of encouraging 
work by Americans in the Mexican archives, which is the main object of the 
book, it was deemed wise to make it as useful as possible to English readers. 
To have put it altogether in Spanish would have made it a sealed book to 
many who would otherwise become interested in the field; it was decided, 
therefore, to reduce it as far as possible to English. In many respects the 
better method of designating materials would have been to give in each case 
the full Spanish designation of volumes, expedientes, and documents. But 
some of these have no archive designations whatever ; in such cases descrip- 
tions had to be devised, either in Spanish or English. Again, the Spanish 
titles or labels are often painfully long, and considerations of space made it 
out of the question to give them in full in a book of this scope. Moreover, 
many titles affixed to documents in the archive files are perfunctory or even 
incorrect, giving in either case no adequate notion of their character. In such 
instances descriptions had to be devised, whether the archive designations 
were given or not. All these considerations led the author to attempt to give 
in the briefest form possible a designation of each item that would enable the 
investigator to determine its location and its nature. To do this the archive 
designations could not always be followed. In every case the archive desig- 
nation of larger divisions and subdivisions of each collection is preserved, 
this method usually extending to individual volumes and legajos, where these 
are specified individually. Lesser divisions are referred to in the briefest way 
consistent with the purposes stated. When convenient, catch-words or 
phrases from long titles have been preserved, for purposes of easy identifica- 
tion. Exact titles of volumes or legajos are given in quotations. Black-faced 
type is used to designate the numbers of volumes and legajos. 
