In the three periods of Mexican history following the conquest there is no comprehensive work extant in English; nor is there any such work in Spanish that if translated would prove entirely satisfactory to English readers. Of the few Spanish and Mexican writers whose researches have extended over the whole field, or large portions of it, none have been conspicuously successful in freeing themselves from the quicksands of race prejudice, of religious feeling, of patriotic impulse, of political partisanship; none have had a satisfactory command of existing authorities; none in the matter of space have made a symmetrical division of the periods, or have appreciated the relative importance of different topics as they appear to any but Spanish eyes. Yet there has been no lack among these writers of careful investigation or brilliant diction. Indeed there is hardly an epoch that has not been ably treated from various partisan standpoints.
The list of authorities prefixed to this volume shows approximately my resources for writing a History of Mexico. I may add that no part of my collection is more satisfactorily complete than that pertaining to Mexico. I have all the standard histories and printed chronicles of the earliest times, together with all the works of writers who have extended their investigations to the events and developments of later years. On the shelves of my Library are found the various Colecciones de Documentos, filled with precious historical papers from the Spanish and Mexican archives, all that were consulted in manuscript by Robertson, Prescott, and other able writers, with thousands equally important that were unknown to them. My store of manuscript material is rich both in originals and copies, including the treasures secured during a long experience by such collectors as José María Andrade and José Fernando Ramirez; a copy of the