Scope and Content Note
The Harkness Collection consists of documents and papers (1525-1609: 2,939 folios) relating to the history of the Spanish in Mexico, though chiefly pertaining to the conquistador Hernan Cortés and members of his family. Topics include the Cortés-Avila Conspiracy (1566); a 1531 lawsuit involving testimony from the Nahuas of Huejotzingo, Mexico; other legal matters; family lands in Oaxaca, Mexico; and proceedings of the Holy Office of the Inquisition.
Also included are documents and papers (1531-1651, and 1740: 1,405 folios) relating to the history of the Spanish in Peru. Included are decrees, proclamations, orders, instructions, contracts, agreements, commercial accounts and letters, minutes of municipalities, manumissions, and material on the Pizarro and Almagro families.
A full-color facsimile of the Harkness 1531 Huexotzingo codex (until 1974 known as the Codex Monteleone), part of the Harkness Collection since 1928, is also available in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library. The originals for the seventy-nine leaf manuscript, which includes the eight Indian drawings comprising the Huexotzingo codex that pertain to a lawsuit by Hernando Cortés, is located in the Library’s Conservation Division.
Material relating to Mexico is described in four series. Series 1 to 3 are available on microfilm. They appear in the container list in the order in which they were filmed and thereunder by original document number. At the end of the document descriptions of the filmed items for Mexico are two numbers. The first number with the prefix HC-M refers to calendar numbers in The Harkness Collection in the Library of Congress: Manuscripts concerning Mexico, a Guide. The second number refers to the shelf container number. Series 4 consists of positive and negative enlargement prints and photostatic copies.
Material relating to the Spanish in Peru is organized by type of material: enlargement prints, originals, and Rosenbach Company items. The enlargement prints and original documents are correlated to document numbers that appear in The Harkness Collection in the Library of Congress: Calendar of Spanish Manuscripts concerning Peru, 1531-1651.