W. B. Stephens Collection

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:

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."

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.

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.

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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