May 2017 Auction Ends Thursday, May 25th, 5pm Pacific

Hernán Cortés Letter Signed From 1534 When Cortés Was Settling Baja, California

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/25/2017

16th century conquistador Hernán Cortés letter signed ''El Marqués'', dated 28 August 1534, as Cortés was planning his voyage into the Gulf of California (originally named ''Sea of Cortés''). In this voyage, he would discover Baja California and founded the first European settlement there at La Paz. Thirteen years after the conquest of Mexico. Cortés here writes to his chamberlain, Rodrigo de Valagin, the manager of his household, hiring de Valagin's son to work in the Cortés household. In part, ''Rodrigo de Valagin, my chamberlain: Place and enter into the books of my household...Valagan de Obergon, your son, with a salary of two hundred and fifty pesos 'de quilate' [a type of gold peso] in every year and he should enjoy them from the first day of the month of July of this year and then forward being aware that all of this is my wish. And I order you to give those said pesos now and in the future, as is my wish. Done in this city of Mexico 28 August 1534. / El Marques''. On 6 July 1529 Charles I of Spain bestowed upon Cortés the title of Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca, for Cortés' conquest of Mexico which provided Charles 1 with a new kingdom. Measures approximately 7'' x 8.5''. Chipping to margins and closed tears along folds, overall very good condition. Letters by Cortés are very rare, with only a handful coming to auction in the past 40 years.