Benson Latin American CollectionRare Books and
ManuscriptsInventory
W. B. Stephens Collection
Prepared by the Mexican Archives Project
February 10, 1995
Introduction
The W. B. Stephens Collection was purchased by the Benson Latin American
Collection in 1939 from Virginia Stephens de Mariscal, the daughter of W.
B. Stephens. The collection was described by the Benson's Mexican
Archives Project in April 1994.
The collection's physical extent comprises 12 linear feet. Its materials
are in Spanish; their bulk dates are 1559-1848. Series I of the
collection is also available on microfilm.
The collection is partially described in the following guide, which is
available in Rare Books Reference:
Castañeda, Carlos E. and Jack Autrey Dabbs, eds.,
Guide to the Latin American Manuscripts in the University of Texas
Library.
Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1939.
For the portions of the collection not included in the guide, a card file
and an item list are available in the library.
The suggested citation for the collection is "W. B. Stephens Collection,
1488-1936, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries,
University of Texas at Austin."
Biographical Sketch
William B. Stephens was a geologist by profession and a student of
Spain's role in North America. While working for the Huasteca Oil
Company in Mexico, he amassed a collection of manuscripts, rare books,
and other printed materials in his area of interest. Stephens died in
1937.
Scope and Contents Note
Manuscripts and printed material focusing on the area of the southwestern
U.S. (especially California and Texas) before 1836, then under Spanish
and Mexican control, and on Mexico. Series I includes correspondence,
legal documents, reports and other literary productions, appointments,
instructions, printed material, and other items relating to the
governance and history of New Spain and the Catholic Church. Topics
represented are Indians, missions, the Inquisition, Mexico's Wars of
Independence, relations between Texas and Mexico (1820-1845), the
U.S.-Mexican War, and commerce and foreign trade. Series II consists of
a collection of pamphlets published 1820-1822 concerning political
conditions in Mexico, and ten bound volumes of Mexican government
documents, decrees, broadsides, fragments of books on history and law,
and other materials dated 1811-1851 concerning the history and governance
of Mexico. (Four volumes deal primarily with Texas, California, New
Mexico, and Coahuila). Series III contains printed decrees,
proclamations, reports, circulars, etc. dated 1655-1936 and covering the
same general subjects as Series I and II, with emphasis on the empire of
Iturbide and the early Mexican republic.
Subgroups and Series
The materials in the W. B. Stephens Collection fall into three series:
| I. | Materials described in
Castañeda-Dabbs guide, 1488-1868. Correspondence, printed
material, and assorted material. | | II. | Materials described in card file.
Formerly referred to as "Imprints," these materials are comprised of
pamphlets dated 1820-1822 and bound documents dated
1811-1851. | | III. | Materials described in item list.
Formerly referred to as "Uncataloged Imprints," these items are dated
1655-1936. |
The items in Series I and II are arranged by their entry numbers; Series
III is arranged chronologically.
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