Sep 24, 2020 - Sale 2546

Sale 2546 - Lot 366

Price Realized: $ 3,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500
(PERU.) Dossier on the rebellion and execution of Túpac Amaru II. [32] manuscript pages, 11 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches, on 8 folding sheets, loosely stitched; moderate wear. [Cuzco, Peru], November 1780 to June 1781
Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

A fascinating and wide-ranging document on the rebellion of Túpac Amaru II, who led Aymara and Quechua against the Spanish authorities in 1780 and early 1781. The file begins with the text of two letters from Túpac Amaru to the people of Cuzco, 3 January and 9 January 1781, which occupy 4 1/2 pages. Although these letters have since been published, their existence in such an early manuscript transcript remains interesting.
The letters are followed by a long summary of revolutionary events, apparently unpublished, headed "Compendio de las noticias mas circunstanciadas y veridicas que se han podido adquirir de la sublebacion de barias provincias del Peru fulminada por el vil e iniquo rebelde Indio Josef Gabriel Tupac Amaru" (pages 5-30), often giving the date and origin of the reports, and accusing the rebels of various atrocities--an important chronicle of the events of the rebellion. Tomás Katari, one of Túpac's main allies, is mentioned frequently, such as a description of his followers kissing his feet on page 10: "Los extremos que los Yndios hicieron a vista de su Catari fueron extremados, besandole la ropa y los pies.' The rape and murder of Spanish women in the provinces of Calco and Paucartambo is described on page 12: 'Terribles atrocidades en los pueblos y obrajes sin perdonar las vidas de los niños, y mujeres Españoles, violandolas antes, y despues de muertas . . . degollandolas en la yglesia a presencia del Sacram'to." The narrative concludes with an account of the celebrations in Cuzco after Túpac's capture: 'Esta ciudad se ha llenado de regocijo con la prision de Tupac Amaru y su familia. Actualmente hayan repique general de campanas y lo comun del lugar esta lleno de regocijo.' This is followed by the order of battle of the Spanish troops arrayed against the rebellion.
The final two pages of the document transcribe the sentences against supporters of the rebellion in Jujuy, Argentina (not including Tupac Amaru) delivered by the Governor of Tucumán on 25 April 1781, 12 of them to be beheaded and their heads exhibited in various specific locations, and others to be branded with an "R" for rebel on their cheeks. This sentence has also been published. Provenance: offered in the Maggs "Bibliotheca Americana" catalog, 1925; unsold at Sotheby's, 1 June 1932; sold by the William Reese Company to the consignor, 1997.