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viii collection is more satisfactorily complete than that pertaining to Mexico. I have all the standard histories and printed chronicles of the earliest times, together with all the works of writers who have extended their investigations to the events and developments of later years. On the shelves of my Library are found the various Colecciones de Documentos, filled with precious historical papers from the Spanish and Mexican archives, all that were consulted in manuscript by Robertson, Prescott, and other able writers, with thousands equally important that were unknown to them. My store of manuscript material is rich both in originals and copies, including the treasures secured during a long experience by such collectors as José María Andrade and José Fernando Ramirez; a copy of the famous Archivo General de Mexico, in thirty-two volumes; the autograph originals of Cárlos María Bustamante's historical writings, in about fifty volumes, containing much not found in his printed works; the original records of the earliest Mexican councils of the church, with many ecclesiastical and missionary chronicles not extant in print; and finally a large amount of copied material on special topics drawn from different archives expressly for my work.

Documents printed by the Mexican government; including the regular memorias and other reports of different departments and officials, constitute a most valuable source of information. Partisan writings and political pamphlets are a noticeable feature of Mexican historical literature, indispensable to the historian who would study both sides of every question. Prominent Mexicans have formed collections of such works, a dozen of which I have united in one, making two hundred and eighteen volumes of Papeles Varios,