(MEXICO) Charles IV King of Spain Royal decree forbidding th

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(MEXICO.) Charles IV, King of Spain. Royal decree forbidding the branding of slaves. Letterpress broadside, 16 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches, on a double sheet of sealed paper, with official signatures on recto and docketing on verso; uncut, light ink stain along top edge, short closed separation along center fold. Mexico, 28 June 1786

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Here Charles IV forbids the practice of branding slaves as they entered port: "moved by the sentiments of his great humanity and innate beneficence to mitigate and to improve the fate of the black slaves who are led to his Indian dominions, he has deigned to abolish entirely, and forever, the practice established by ancient royal decrees to mark them at their entrance through the ports, in the face or back . . . and has resolved to collect from all offices, where they exist, the iron brands called Carimbar, which are to be sent to the Ministry of the Indies to render them so they can never be used." This printing was ordered by Bernardo de Galvez as Viceroy of New Spain. It bears his manuscript paraph, and the signature of Juan de Soria. Not in Medina, Mexico. OCLC records only one copy, at the University of California at Berkeley; the University of Texas at San Antonio has another copy on line.