The Bernice Weiss Collection is an artificial collection consisting of manuscript and printed documents relating principally to colonial and nineteenth-century Mexico, especially civil, government, military, and church matters.
Items concerning personal, civil, and legal affairs (1547-1900) include correspondence, wills, inventories, estate settlements, petitions, and complaints. Some items in the series are hacienda and land records relating to Indian, Spanish, and church land transactions and disputes of ownership of land.
Materials pertaining to national and local government and military affairs (1621-1914, but mostly 19th century) include circulars, proclamations, official documents and communications, correspondence, and regional and municipal regulations.
Documents about the Catholic Church (1562-1866) include proclamations, regulations, official communications, and circular and pastoral letters relating to church organization and practices, the Archbishopric of Mexico, the Cathedral of Mexico, parish affairs (some concerning the interaction of curates and Indians), religious orders, and missions, among other topics. Among church materials is a record book of the charitable order of San Hipólito (1790-1803).
The materials are in Spanish.
The collection is arranged in three series:
The documents are arranged chronologically within folders.
Bernice Weiss Collection, Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.
The Bernice Weiss Collection was purchased by the Benson Latin American Collection in 1977 from Bernice Weiss, a rare books dealer in Eastchester, New York.
The collection was described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in
Prepared by the Mexican Archives Project,
The Bernice Weiss Collection is classified under the following