Description of the Kingdom of New Spain of 1774 is a rare, exciting, and colorful addition to the field of Hispanic literature. The original Spanish text, entitled Idea compendiosa del Reyno de Nueva España, is here translated into English and brings to the reader many historical and social aspects of colonial Mexico.

An unabridged translation of a 16th century Dominican friar's history of the Aztec world before the Spanish conquest, based on a now-lost Nahuatl chronicle and interviews with Aztec informants. Duran traces the history of the Aztecs from their mythic origins to the destruction of the empire, and describes the court life of the elite, the common people, and life in times of flood, drought, and war. Includes an introduction and annotations providing background on recent studies of colonial Mexico, and 62 b&w illustrations from the original manuscript. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

An overview of the history, geography, and natural resources of Mexico and Central America during the colonial period, with special emphasis on the cultural achievements of indigenous peoples and the impact of European colonization. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Offers a new reading of the history of the colonization of North America and the dispossession of its indigenous peoples.

In ‘Another Jerusalem’: Political Legitimacy and Courtly Government in the Kingdom of New Spain (1535-1568) José-Juan López-Portillo offers a new approach to understanding why the most densely populated and culturally sophisticated regions of Mesoamerica accepted the authority of Spanish viceroys. By focusing on the routines and practices of quotidian political life in New Spain, and the ideological affinities that bound indigenous and non-indigenous political communities to the viceregal regime, López Portillo discloses the formation of new loyalties, interests and identities particular to New Spain. Rather than the traditional view of European colonial domination over a demoralized indigenous population, New Spain now appears as Mexico City’s sub-empire: an aggregate of the Habsburg ‘composite monarchy’. "Embellished with wonderful illustrations, this work draws upon extensive secondary and primary sources. Scholars studying Spain's America will find it a thoughtful addition to historical literature on 16th-century New Spain." - M. A. Burkholder, University of Missouri - St. Louis, in: CHOICE, July 2018 Vol. 55 No. 11

In 1799, Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland set out to determine whether the Orinoco River connected with the Amazon. But what started as a trip to investigate a relatively minor geographical controversy became the basis of a five-year exploration throughout South America, Mexico, and Cuba. The discoveries amassed by Humboldt and Bonpland were staggering, and much of today’s knowledge of tropical zoology, botany, geography, and geology can be traced back to Humboldt’s numerous records of these expeditions. One of these accounts, Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, firmly established Alexander von Humboldt as the founder of Mesoamerican studies. In Views of the Cordilleras—first published in French between 1810 and 1813—Humboldt weaves together magnificently engraved drawings and detailed texts to achieve multifaceted views of cultures and landscapes across the Americas. In doing so, he offers an alternative perspective on the New World, combating presumptions of its belatedness and inferiority by arguing that the “old” and the “new” world are of the same geological age. This critical edition of Views of the Cordilleras—the second volume in the Alexander von Humboldt in English series—contains a new, unabridged English translation of Humboldt’s French text, as well as annotations, a bibliography, and all sixty-nine plates from the original edition, many of them in color.