Apr 12, 2018 - Sale 2473

Sale 2473 - Lot 300

Price Realized: $ 9,375
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 10,000 - $ 15,000
(MEXICAN MANUSCRIPTS.) Hidalgo, Miguel. Autograph Letter Signed regarding the hanging of Inquisition broadsides in the churches. Autograph Letter Signed as "Mig'l Hidalgo" to Victorino de las Fuentes, an officer of the Inquisition. One page, 8 x 6 inches; integral blank leaf apparently removed, folds, otherwise minimal wear. Dolores, Mexico, 2 September 1808
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Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753-1811) was a priest in the small town of Dolores, Guanajuato who helped spark the Mexican War of Independence. His famous speech on 16 September 1810, the Grito de Delores, called for the people of his parish to rise up in rebellion. Mexican Independence Day is still celebrated on this day in his honor. Hidalgo then led a revolutionary army of 90,000, and was executed on 30 July 1811. Before the Grito de Delores, Hidalgo was a little-known priest. His time as a public figure lasted less than a year before his death. Thus, his autographs are quite scarce. The last we trace at an American auction was in 1927. This letter was written just two years before the Grito de Delores. It reads, in full:
"Señor Dr. Don Victorio de las Fuentes. Dolores Septiembre 2 de [1]808. Muy Señor mío: recibí el edicto, que de orden del Santo Oficio se publicó en México el 28 del pasado: se publicará el domingo proximo, y se fijará en las puertas de la Parroquia, según se previene. Dios guarde a usted muchos años. Beso la mano de usted su attento servidor y capellán, Miguel Hidalgo." Translated, it reads "Dear Sir: I received the edict, which by order of the Holy Office, was published in Mexico [City] the 28th of the past month. It is to be made public next Sunday and affixed to the doors of the parish church, as indicated. May God care for you for many years. I, your attentive servant and chaplain, kiss your hand, Miguel Hidalgo." Ironically, the Inquisition broadside which Hidalgo mentions may have been opposed to the revolutionary talk starting to percolate across Mexico. That same month, Bernardo Prado y Ovejero of the Inquisition forbid writings by revolutionary authors Melchor de Talamantes and Francisco Primo de Verdad.