Hans Peter Kraus

A Register of His Collection of Spanish American Documents in the Library of Congress

Prepared by Michael McElderry

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

2004

Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress
Manuscript Division, 2004

2004-07-01 converted from EAD 1.0 to EAD 2002

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

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Subjects:

Occupation:

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Processing History:

Copyright Status:

Microfilm:

Preferred Citation:

Scope and Content Note

Related Material

Organization of the Papers

Description of Series

Container List

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Administrative Information

The collection of Spanish American documents of Hans Peter Kraus, bookman, collector, and bibliophile, was given to the Library of Congress by Kraus in 1969. An additional item was purchased for the Library by Kraus in 1970.

Preliminary arrangement and descriptions of the Kraus Collection were prepared for Kraus by Richard Boulind. The collection is also described in Hans P. Kraus Collection of Hispanic American Manuscripts (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1974) by J. Benedict Warren.

It is the researcher's responsibility to determine requirements of domestic copyright laws and international treaties and conventions.

A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on four reels. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan.

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Hans Peter Kraus Collection of Spanish American Documents, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Scope and Content Note

The collection of Spanish American documents of Hans Peter Kraus (1907-1988) spans the years 1433 to 1966, with the bulk of the items dated from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. The collection relates to the history and culture of colonial Spanish America, including the early history of territories now part of the United States. Contained in the collection are colonial documents recording the exploration of the New World, the government of New Spain (Mexico), the administration of the Inquisition, taxation and economic conditions in the colonies, Spanish relationships with Native Americans and the French, and the loss of parts of the Spanish empire to American expansion. The collection includes material relating to explorers Amerigo Vespucci (1451-1512), Giovanni da Verrazzano (1485-1528), Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (16th cent.), Pedro de Ursúa (d.1561), and Lope de Aguirre (d.1561). It also includes letters and documents from the archives of Juan de Zumárraga (1468-1548), bishop of Mexico, and his successors. The collection is in English, Spanish, French, and Italian and is organized in a Spanish American Documents series and a Miscellany series consisting of notes and printed matter providing descriptions and partial translations of the collection. The collection contains letters, decrees, order books, reports, instructions, dispatches, printed material, and miscellaneous legal documents arranged by number as listed in Hans P. Kraus Collection of Hispanic American Manuscripts prepared by J. Benedict Warren.

One of the earliest documents in the collection is a contemporary manuscript copy of Vespucci's letter to Piero Soderini (1452-1522), 10 September 1504, in which he discussed all four of his voyages (item 119). Verrazzano's explorations, including his survey of the eastern seaboard of North America, are documented in letters, documents, and transcripts relating to the explorer and his family (item 121). Contemporary narratives and a copy of a royal dispatch trace the history of Ursúa's and Aguirre's exploratory expedition down the Amazon River and the latter's subsequent mutiny (items 141-143). Three original documents highlight the family life of Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, a pioneer in the conquest of Mexico and the exploration of Florida (item 122). Other material concerning early attempts to colonize Florida and the territories north of Mexico are included in an order book maintained by Viceroy Luis de Velasco (1500?-1564) and his predecessor, Antonio de Mendoza (1492?-1552) (item 140); a volume of documents regarding Pedro de Céspedes Vallejo Diaz, a soldier who served in Florida (item 148); a letter of Diego Quiroga y Losada, governor of Florida (item 152); a treatise by Antonio de Arredondo on Spanish claims to the colony of Georgia; and the letters and documents of the Gourgues family, in particular a narrative manuscript of the expedition of Dominique de Gourgues (1530?-1593) to Florida, 1567-1568 (item 144). Five variant versions of Gourgues's narrative located in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France (Fonds Français 2145, 3884, 6124, 19899, and 20794) have been reproduced on two reels of microfilm and are available in the Manuscript Division Reading Room.*

*Microfilm shelf no. 17,674

A collection of decrees and letters, a majority of which resided in the archives of Zumárraga, relates primarily, though not exclusively, to the Catholic church in New Spain (items 1-116). In addition to ecclesiastical affairs, these items also document the government and administration of Mexico including its social structure and culture, public health, education, thearts, public works, and the living conditions of its native population. The documents bear the signatures of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500-1558), and his wife, Isabel, Empress (1503-1539), and their son and daughter, Philip II, King of Spain (1527-1598), and Juana de Austria, Princess of Portugal (1535-1573), and their descendants, Philip III (1578-1621) and Philip IV (1605-1665), kings of Spain. Another set of documents concerning the civil administration of New Spain also illuminates the career of Zumárraga's colleague, Bartolomé de las Casas, bishop of Chiapas (items 123-139). These items reflect the development and impact of the New Laws of the Indies, 1542, and the colonists' reaction to them. Items pertaining to the Inquisition in Mexico include documents of the trial of artist Simón Pereyns (fl. 1558-1588) (item 145); material relating to Antonio and Diego Calderón and family, official printers to the Holy Office of the Inquisition (item 149); and a holograph and printed volume of the rules and regulations governing the fraternity of Saint Peter Martyr, a brotherhood consisting of members of the Inquisition (item 151).

Among the latest items in the collection are dispatches sent in 1819 from Mexico to Spain by Juan Ruiz de Apodaca which contain information on the government, condition, and defense of the Spanish territories that are now part of the United States, including Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, with references to American forces and settlements in Louisiana and Florida (item 162).

Related Material

In addition to the Kraus material, the Library of Congress holds a collection of colonial Spanish American manuscripts in the Edward Stephen Harkness Collection which may also be consulted in the Manuscript Division Reading Room.

Organization of the Papers

The collection is arranged in two series:

• Spanish American Documents, 1433-1877, n.d.
• Miscellany, 1938-1966, n.d.

Description of Series

Container List