Duke University Press

Review
Author(s): Louisa Schell Hoberman
Review by: Louisa Schell Hoberman
Source: The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Aug., 1980), pp. 491-492
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2513284
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BOOK REVIEWS I COLONIAL AND INDEPENDENCE PERIODS 491
should be noted. Angeo is consistently rendered "anglo" (p. 85 and nu-
merous other locations), whereas what is referred to is a type of cloth
(angeo) used to wrap packages, that is, the wrapping itself. Audiencia
becomes Audience (for example, p. 148); pan de la tierra is rendered
"bread of the earth" (p. 237) instead of "local bread." But by far the most
serious problem is the apparent confusion of the translators about the
various units of account and currency which were used in the documents.
Oro que corre, which is also given as oro corriente, comes out "gold that
flows" (p. 85) instead of "common, circulating gold" which is the meaning.
Oro corntin and pesos de oro de tepuzque are rendered literally, whereas
they were normally units of account for silver coins, as some of the doc-
uments make clear (see p. 102). A careful study of Manuel Moreyra Paz-
Solda'n's 1945 article in Revista de Historia de America would have
cleared up these problems and, with a table setting out the value of units
of account and currency used in the documents, have helped the reader
(and the translators) understand the records.
These problems with the translations aside, the collection is of value
for showing the richness of shipping registers as sources and for providing
in English some glimpses of the fascinating world of oceanic commerce
during the mid-sixteenth century.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana PAUL E. HOFFMAN

Historia, tradiciones y leyendas de calles de Mexico. By ARTEMIO DE

VALLE-ARIZPE. Mexico, 1978. Editorial Diana. Pp. 829. Paper.

Legend rather than history is the stuff of this popular work by Artemio
de Valle-Arizpe (1888-1961), who succeeded Luis Gonza'lez Obregon as
chronicler of Mexico City. Reminiscent of the writings of Ricardo Palma,
the volume is a collection of stories, usually under ten pages long, pur-
portedly based on an event associated with one of the streets of the
viceregal capital. The pious and learned friar, the shameless thief, the
converse, the charitable gentleman, the miserable Indian, the firm but
wise viceroy are the protagonists of these tales. From a thread or two of
historical evidence, De Valle-Arizpe has spun a collection of elaborate
tapestries which place in relief the fabulous and the lurid aspects of
colonial society. Some of the stories clearly derive from the archival doc-
uments which Don Artemio enjoyed perusing or from the eyewitness
accounts which comprise his first book, Historia de la ciudad de Mexico
segun los relates de sus cronistas. "Ni cerca de rio, ni cerca de frailes,"
the story of a prolonged legal battle between the Augustinians and neigh-

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492 HAHR I AUGUST

boring householders over the convent's drive to acquire all property on

the street of the Arco de San Agustin, includes a transcription of the
c6dula settling the dispute in the vecinos' favor. Tales such as "El barco
fantasma,"the history of a mulata whose magical cures and prodigal alms-
giving placed her in an Inquisition cell from which she escaped by hop-
ping into a boat painted on the dungeon wall, probably are based on
Inquisition materials. But the historical origin of the greater part of the
episodes is obscure.
The scholar consulting this volume for information about the social
structure or spatial characteristics of the colonial city is certain to be
frustrated. However, if he reads it to understand the preoccupations and
values of the viceregal capital and to feel affection for its complex history
and physical beauty, he will find the book rewarding. In addition, a
benefit not intended by Don Artemio is the valuable insight his work
provides into the mental world of one type of Porfirista intellectual. As
the son of the governor of Coahuila and the senator for Chiapas in the
congress of 1910, De Valle-Arizpe's reaction to the revolutionary decades
was to enshrine in his writings an idealized viceregal society, where
authority was just, rich and poor accepted their station, and a Christian
morality infused all relationships. The continued popularity of his books,
to which this reprinting attests, suggests that Don Artemio's nostalgia is
shared by a considerable number of Mexicans today.
Wesleyan University LouISA SCHELL HOBERMAN

El inonopolio estatal del inercurio en el Mexico colonial, 1550-1710. By

M. F. LANG. Translated by ROBERTO G6MEZ CIRIZA. Mexico, 1977.
Fondo de Cultura Econ6mica. Tables. Notes. Appendixes. Bibliog-
raphy. Pp. 382. Paper.
This is a thorough piece of work, the outcome of a decade of research
by Dr. Lang on mercury mining and supply in New Spain-an important
matter, since most silver produced in colonial Mexico was drawn from
its ores by amalgamation. Earlier research has suggested close connec-
tions between mercury supply and silver production (for instance, the
drop in silver output in the mid-seventeenth century coincides with
shortage of mercury), but nobody before Lang has made a complete
investigation of mercury supply.
There were, naturally, attempts to find and exploit mercury deposits
in Mexico itself. These are recounted at length by Lang. They failed, he
tells us, because the deposits, although numerous, were of generally poor
quality at shallow levels, and because the crown could not be persuaded

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