The Latin American mss. Guatemala, 1578-1823, contain several items of interest and value. Although the largest number of manuscripts are from the nineteenth century, many important documents date from the early colonial period. Central American Indians are the topic of a report to Felipe V, king of Spain. Related to this are Francisco Maldonado's Explicatio Fidei Cakchiquel, an apparently unpublished work written in the Cakchikel language in 1615, and the Vocabulario en lengua castellana, y guatemalteca, que se llama: cak chiquel chi, written about 1578, also apparently not published. Other items include a piece dated September, 1718, concerning the 1717 earth- quake in Guatemala; Francisco Javier Paz' Oracion funebre ... in honor of King Luis I, whose published version is mentioned by Medina; two items concerning the Bethlehemite religious order; and a non-dated map showing the topographic plan of the old city of Guatemala.

The most valuable items in this collection are the sixteenth century music manuscripts. Since these are in such fragile condition, microfilm and xerox copies have been made of them. For a description of these music manuscripts, see the cards which follow.

The independence and early national periods of Guatemala's history are represented by numerous documents concerning defenses and both the Spanish and patriot armies.

The correspondents in this collection are Gabriel de Artigas; Antonio Cano Manuel Ramirez de Arellano; Silvestre Collar; Gabino Gainza; Jose de Galvez, marques de Sonora; Ciriaco Gonzalez Carvajal; Ignacio de la Pezuela; and Carlos Urrutia y Montoya.

Note on Indexing Term - "Law": There is a large quantity of legal material pertaining to Latin America in these collections. Royal and viceregal decrees, both de oficio and de parte, are especially numerous.

Note on Indexing Term - "Religion": A large quantity of this material relates to religious matters.

Note on Indexing Term - "West (U.S.)" and "Americana": There are items pertaining to early settlements and colonial government in Texas, California and New Mexico, and information on Texas independence.