(MEXICO--1631.) Group of 10 17th-century cartas de poder. Partially printed documents signed, each about 30 x 20 cm, printed on recto and completed on both sides; various conditions. [México, circa 1631-43]
Each form begins with the usual printed text, "Sepan quantos esta carta vieren, como yo. . . . Generalmente, para en todos mis pleytos," and is completed in manuscript as a power of attorney document. The two earliest examples here were completed in January 1631, and are printed on one conjoined sheet with different completions. The others are all distinct printings, though the printed text is identical. None bear imprint lines and little research has been published on the subject of these 17th-century forms, but Mathes attributed most of them to the press of Juan Ruiz, with other examples possibly printed by Francisco Salbago, Diego Gutiérrez, Juan Blanco de Alcázar, and the widow of Bernardo Calderón. A more detailed list is available by request. with--a blank carta de poder form in 37 lines of Roman type on darker paper, worn at edges, thought by Mathes to be a 16th-century printing by Pedro Balli, with an initial woodcut "S" not recorded by Carpenter.
