the jay i. kislak collection at the library of congress

the jay i. kislak collection
at the library of congress
The jay i. kislak Collection
at the library of congress
a catalog of the gif t of
the jay i. kisl ak foundation
to the libr ary of congress
Arthur Dunkelman
With essays by
Ralph E. Ehrenberg
Norman Fiering
John Lombardi
Jerald T. Milanich
Robert J. Sharer
George Stuart
librar y of congress
Washington, D.C.
2007
The Jay I. Kislak Collection at the Library of Congress has been published
in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition Exploring the Early Americas.
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Jay I. Kislak Collection (Library of Congress)
The Jay I. Kislak Collection at the Library of Congress : a catalog
of the gift of the Jay I. Kislak Foundation to the Library of Congress /
Arthur Dunkelman ; with essays by Ralph Ehrenberg . . . [et al.].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8444-1180-4 (alk. paper)
1. America—History—To 1810—Bibliography—Catalogs. 2. America
—Discovery and exploration—European—Bibliography—Catalogs.
3. Florida—History—To 1821—Bibliography—Catalogs. 4. Caribbean
Area—History—To 1810—Bibliography—Catalogs. 5. Indians—
First contact with Europeans—Bibliography—Catalogs. 6. Indians
of Central America—History—Bibliography—Catalogs. 7. Indians
of Mexico—History—Bibliography—Catalogs. 8. Indians of North
America—History—Bibliography—Catalogs. 9. America—Ethnic
relations—Bibliography—Catalogs. 10. Jay I. Kislak Collection
(Library of Congress)—Catalogs. I. Dunkelman, Arthur.
II. Ehrenberg, Ralph E., 1937– III. Title.
z1203 .j395
[e18.82]
016.970—dc22 2007041342
All images, except where noted, are from the Jay I. Kislak Collection at
the Library of Congress. A listing of photographs by Kerr Associates
follows the index. Images for entries 585, 586, and 587 courtesy Banco
de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust.
frontispiece: Frederick Catherwood, Study of a Mayan
monument, ca. 1842 (see entry 521).
contents
Preface by James H. Billington ix
Foreword by Arthur Dunkelman xiii
Collector’s Note by Jay I. Kislak xvii
Acknowledgments by Arthur Dunkelman xxi
i. from the olmec to columbus
Introduction by Robert J. Sharer 1
The Indigenous Cultures Before European Contact 3
The Olmec and Their Neighbors 6 / Izapa 8 /
The Maya 9 / Coastal Lowlands 37 / Ballgame 40 /
Mexican Highlands 43 / West México 44 / House
Models of West México 45 / Central and South
America 48 / The Taíno 50 / The Taíno Post Contact 53
vi. voyages and travels
Introduction by Norman Fiering 123
The Sixteenth Century 125 / The Seventeenth
Century 130 / The Eighteenth Century 131 /
The Nineteenth Century 133
vii. the social order
Colonial Law, Treaties, and Trade 137
viii. natural history, ethnography,
and archaeology
Introduction by George Stuart 143
The Sixteenth Century 145 / The Seventeenth
Century 148 / Techialoyan Manuscripts 150 /
The Eighteenth Century 152 / The Nineteenth
Century 158 / The Twentieth Century 166 /
Diego Rivera 167 / Facsimiles of Codices 169
ii. columbus and the encounter
Introduction by John Lombardi 55
An Extraordinary Transition 57
ix. florida and the circum-caribbean
Introduction by Jerald T. Milanich 173
Florida 175 / Florida and Louisiana Under Britain
and Spain 177 / The Annexation of Florida by the
United States 178 / The Adams–Onís Treaty 180 /
The Campaign Against the Seminoles 181 / Florida
Under the United States 182 / The West Indies 188 /
Pirates 192 / The English Mainland Colonies 195 /
México, Central America, and South America 196
iii. the conquest
The Aztec Empire 63 / The Conquest of México 67 /
Hernán Cortés and His Letters to Charles V 67 /
Accounts of the Conquest of México 72 / The Conquest
of México Paintings in the Kislak Collection 76 /
South America 91 / Bartolomé de las Casas 92
iv. the new geography
Introduction by Ralph E. Ehrenberg 97
The Schöner Sammelband 99 / The Sixteenth
Century 108 / Later Cartography and Geography 113
x. the new nation
v. histories and chronicles 119
facing: A
rnoldus Montanus, De nieuwe en onbekende weereld, 1671 (see entry 473).
Introduction by John Lombardi 199
References 205 Contributors 211 Index 213
preface
S
ince its founding more than two hundred years ago, the Library of Congress has
evolved from a congressional library to a library that serves not only Congress, but
also the nation and the world. The Library is a haven of scholarship; the variety and
scope of its holdings make connections possible that cannot easily be made elsewhere.
With the addition of the Jay I. Kislak Collection to its holdings, the Library’s collections
have gained new strengths that complement its current holdings and that will benefit
students of the history of the Americas.
The Kislak Collection represents a lifetime of collecting informed by passion and intellect, and this publication is a record of a life of collecting, learning, and exploring.
The collection encompasses more than three thousand rare books, maps, manuscripts,
historic documents, artifacts, and works of art related to early American history and the
cultures of Florida, the Caribbean, and Mesoamerica. It is considered among the finest
collections of its kind in the world, one that brings together material that is of equal interest to scholars and the general public. The collection includes unique materials documenting the early Americas from the time of the indigenous people of Mexico, Central
America, and the Caribbean through the period of European contact, exploration, and
settlement. Although it is one of the Library’s newest collections, clearly it is an important one for present and future generations.
Assembled over the course of five decades by Jay Kislak, this collection would be impossible to assemble today. More than a collector, Jay Kislak is a discoverer. His inquisitiveness and thirst for knowledge have inspired a lifelong love of books. Mr. Kislak and
his wife, Jean, are avid collectors with far-ranging interests and the connoisseur’s eye for
quality.
Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, Mr. Kislak graduated from the Wharton School of
Finance at the University of Pennsylvania in 1942 and served as a naval aviator during
World War II. After the war, he entered the real estate brokerage and mortgage banking
business founded by his father in 1906.
facing: P
ietro Martire d’Anghiera, Opus epistolaru[m] ... , 1530 (see entry 304).
ix
Carlo Verardi, [Historia Baetica], 1494 (see entry 162).
Early in his career, Mr. Kislak moved to Florida and began a fifty-year exploration of
the early history of his new home. Attracted to rare maps and books, he began amassing
a comprehensive collection on early Florida, the Caribbean, and Mesoamerica. Over the
years, his interest deepened and he acquired many rare books and manuscripts, focusing
especially on the early years of European exploration.
Mr. Kislak and his wife, an art curator, expanded their collecting to include artifacts
produced by indigenous civilizations before Columbus. As a book collector, Mr. Kislak
was intrigued by the art of the Maya, a highly literate culture that developed a complex
writing system used to record their history in various ways: on architectural elements,
pottery, and personal items, as well as in books.
As we enter our third century, the Library of Congress is still guided by Thomas
Je=erson’s belief that democracy depends on knowledge—and that all topics are of interest to the national legislature and to the American people. The addition of the Kislak
Collection fulfills both the Library’s mission of being a universal library and our founding
Je=ersonian ideals. The Library is pleased and honored to share this priceless legacy.
james h. billington
above left:
Bernal Díaz del Castillo,
Historia verdadera . . . ,
1632 (see entry 221).
above right:
Bartolomé de las Casas,
The Spanish Colonie . . . ,
1583 (see entry 247).
The Librarian of Congress
xi
foreword
I
n 1985 I first visited the Kislak Gallery, in Miami Lakes, Florida, with a group from
the Miami Museum of Science. Entering the jewel-box gallery through a Maya-style
arch crafted of rough-hewn pink granite, I beheld an array of extraordinary materials
—books, maps, manuscripts, and artifacts spanning three thousand years of the history
and cultures of the Americas.
I was enthralled, intrigued, and, frankly, overwhelmed. The curator, Lee Parsons, and
I became friends, and I took every opportunity to return. I wanted to look deeply at these
artifacts, to read the manuscripts, and to admire the contemporary art and historic maps
displayed outside the gallery in the corridors of the Kislak organization headquarters.
Wonders were everywhere, and I was eager to know the man who was inspired to collect
with such diversity and yet such focus.
Jay Kislak has been collecting for many decades. His life is one of serious fun; he has
an archive of stories and adventures as diverse as his collections. He began collecting
shortly after moving to Florida in the early 1950s. Starting modestly with sets of books
and maps to decorate his office, Jay soon came to realize that there was an extended period of history almost entirely overlooked in the United States—the early Americas prior
to English colonization.
In the 1960s his focus shifted to Spanish La Florida—a vast territory that stretched
from the Texas gulf coast to Chesapeake Bay. As his interest deepened, he began to seek
ever more important works, which brought him to major dealers and the international
world of auctions. In this pursuit he came in contact with several now legendary midcentury book dealers. Notable among them were Michael J. Walsh at Goodspeed’s of
Boston, from whom Jay acquired an extremely important Las Casas manuscript, and John
Fleming, successor to the book dealer and scholar A.S.W. Rosenbach of Philadelphia,
through whom Jay acquired many works, including the very rare first edition of René
Laudonnière’s L’histoire notable de la Floride. Printed in 1586, this copy was originally in the
library of the sixteenth-century historian and bibliophile Jacques-Auguste de Thou and
bears his crest embossed on its pristine vellum binding.
facing: T
wo figurines, a.d. 600–900 (see entry 55).
xiii
above:
Theodor de Bry,
America, Part 6, 1596
(see entry 345).
During this period Jay began to attend rare-book auctions. In those days, rare-book
auctions were the venue of a self-selected group of private dealers, who often conducted
auctions around a green felt table and resisted letting even a serious amateur join in.
Many lots, I suspect, were divided in advance by quiet gentleman’s agreement. What a
contrast such events are to today’s auctions, which are major society events where the famous and well-heeled are eager to be seen waving auction paddles, driving prices through
the stratosphere.
Without headlines, though with increasing respect from the collecting community
and with the help of a new generation of scholar-dealers, such as William Reese in New
Haven and Hugh Bett at Maggs Brothers in London, Jay acquired works of considerable
significance. His acquisitions included first editions of Antonio de Herrera, Theodor de
Bry, and Peter Martyr, as well as important manuscripts by Francisco Pizarro and Hernán
Cortés and a George Washington diary penned in the blank pages of the Virginia Farmer’s
Almanac for 1762. In time, all of these works and many more would be destined for a permanent home in the Library of Congress.
xiv Introduction
By the late 1970s Jay had developed an earnest interest in the cultures preceding European contact, particularly the Maya, who left their history in a writing system that was
beginning to be deciphered. With his wife, Jean, he began to acquire outstanding preColumbian artifacts that reflect the intellectual achievements and artistry of Amerindian
cultures prior to European contact, with emphasis on the circum-Caribbean region and
Mesoamerica.
By the time Lee Parsons retired in 1995, the collection had grown to serious proportions. Jay and Jean realized that, as stewards of these cultural resources, they needed to
plan for the future. Jay offered me the opportunity to help steer the future of the collection. The match was a good one—a collection that deserved greater public exposure and a
chance for me to apply my experience in education and media and my career-long interest
in early American cultures.
Recognizing that the collection represented a unique legacy they wanted to share
with the world, we began considering ways to introduce the collection to broader public
audiences. Jay and Jean enthusiastically supported innovative programs of education, research, and exhibition. With their assistance, the collection was enjoyed and studied by
scholars, schoolchildren, and the general public.
The Kislaks’ decision in 2004 to donate the collection to the Library of Congress as a
gift to the American people represents not only extraordinary generosity, but also a magnificent vision for the collection and the cultures it reveals. In addition to the permanent
exhibition Exploring the Early Americas, the Kislak initiative includes Kislak Fellowships in
Americas Studies for advanced research, symposia, an annual Kislak lecture, and an expanding Web presence that will make the collection accessible to a broad audience. The
history of the Americas is much richer, deeper, and more complex than most of us realize.
At the Library of Congress, millions of people will now benefit from this great treasure.
Connoisseurship is both an intellectual and an intuitive endeavor. Over the years I
have had many opportunities to talk with Jay Kislak about his interests, passions, and
goals for the collection. Along the way I have gained an insight into what makes a connoisseur: a seriousness of purpose reflected in a deep knowledge of his subject, a sense
of an evolving concept of context, and, not least, a sense of enjoyment in the talents of the
creators of these works.
The Kislak Collection is a reflection of this dedication as well as the generosity and
vision of a connoisseur.
arthur dunkelman
Curator, Kislak Collection
xv Introduction
collector’s note
C
ollecting, for me, has always been an adventure, a journey of exploration. Even
after so many years, the excitement of new discovery remains strong.
Like the route of an explorer, the path of the collector is almost never a
straight line. Rather, the collector’s path winds across boundaries—of geography, language, time, discipline, and artistic medium. Over the years, the path of collecting has
led me through wonderful passageways into history and cultures. Collecting has revealed
many different ways of perceiving the world.
After more than fifty years of collecting, I understand this now. In the beginning,
things were simpler. When I first moved from New Jersey to south Florida in the early
1950s, I just wanted to learn more about my new home. I started reading about the history
of Florida and the surrounding regions—the Caribbean, Latin America, and what is now
the southeastern United States.
I learned that, for the Spanish in the sixteenth century, La Florida meant all the land
from the Gulf of Mexico to the Chesapeake Bay and west to the Mississippi. I discovered
the achievements and stories of the magnificent pre-Columbian civilizations, including
the Maya people, who had the only true written language native to the hemisphere.
I bought a great many books and, to hang on the walls, old maps that were interesting and attractive and—unlike today—not particularly expensive. From books and maps,
my collecting expanded over time to include manuscripts, historic documents, artworks,
cultural artifacts, globes, and other objects. My wife, Jean, a curator and collector long
before we met, brought her perspectives and knowledge of pre-Columbian art to our joint
collecting activities starting in the 1980s.
The people and cultures of Florida and the circum-Caribbean region have remained
the primary focus of this collection. Over the years, maps have always held a special interest for us. Certainly one of the high points of our collecting was our acquisition of the
1516 Waldseemüller Carta Marina, the first printed nautical chart of the entire world. The
opportunity to see this great map married to its partner—Waldseemüller’s famous 1507
facing: L
arge shell pectoral with narrative scene, a.d. 900–1200 (see entry 53).
xvii
map, called “America’s birth certificate”—is one of many rewarding experiences of donating our collection to the Library of Congress. The eight large Conquest of México paintings, which Jean and I consider another major highlight of our collecting experience, will
also move, at last, from the storage vault into full public view.
The collection is now at home in its ideal setting and context. We know that here, at
the Library, the materials in the collection will be conserved as they should be for generations to come. Even more important, they now will be all together in one place where they
can be spread out and seen, not hidden in storage as some of these works have been for
so long. At the Library of Congress, it will be possible for scholars and students—and
for me—to study and learn more about these materials in an appropriate environment,
surrounded by related books and documents, and enriched by the insight of some of the
world’s greatest scholars.
This collection has brought so much fascination and enjoyment to our lives. We are
grateful and proud that it will now offer those rewards to the people of America and the
world.
jay i. kislak
facing: M
artin Waldseemüller, Carta Marina . . ., 1516 (see entry 271).
above: Arnoldus Montanus,
De nieuwe en onbekende weereld,
1671 (see entry 473).
xix
acknowledgments
T
his publication documents—and celebrates—the gift of the Jay I. Kislak Collection to the Library of Congress. Its catalog and accompanying essays, we hope,
o=er a glimpse into this truly remarkable collection, which has evolved over half
a century and has now been transformed from a private treasure into a public legacy.
While the 906 items cataloged here offer a broad introduction to the Kislak Collection,
even this panoramic selection represents less than a third of the nearly 3,000 books,
manuscripts, maps, artworks, and other objects in this gift to the nation.
The success of the Kislak Collection in its new home at the Library of Congress is the
result of the ideas and e=orts of many people, but above all, of Jay Kislak, upon whose vision, dedication, and generosity this entire enterprise rests, and of his wife, Jean, always
imaginative, supportive, and insistent on the highest level of quality.
Librarian of Congress James Billington’s commitment to the mission of including
the intellectual legacy of the indigenous cultures has opened a door to a renewed appreciation of Amerindian life and culture. Deanna Marcum, Associate Librarian for Library
Services, has guided the collection and its programs with meticulous care and sensitivity.
The insight and experience of Mark Dimunation, Chief of the Rare Book and Special
Collections Division, have helped integrate the Kislak Collection into the broader Library
of Congress community. George Chiassion, Special Assistant, keeps the machine humming, along with the division sta= who provide support on a daily basis. Thanks to Domenico Sergi and Andrew Cook in the Digital Scan Center and to Digital Specialist Elizabeth Gettins, whose labors make the collection available via the Internet.
The Rare Book cataloging team, under the leadership of Elizabeth Robinson, accomplished in two years what was scheduled for five. Without their conscientious and
diligent e=ort, this catalog would not have been possible. Cataloging specialists from
other divisions also contributed their expertise, notably Barbara Bair for manuscripts and
Rod Pollack for maps. Anthony Gonzalez, Group Leader in the Special Materials Cataloging Division, prepared the Kislak manuscript information for the Library online catalog.
facing: A
ntonio de Mendoza, Relación de las ceremonias . . . ,
eighteenth-century scribal copy of a sixteenth-century work (see entry 228).
xxi
Ardie Bausenbach, Andrew Lasowski, and Karen Stuart, with their expert facility in data
management, made editing the bibliographic records possible.
Since their first visit to the Kislak Foundation in Miami Lakes, Florida, in 1999, John
Hebért, Chief of the Geography and Map Division, and Jim Hutson, Chief of the Manuscript Division, have been enthusiastic supporters of the e=ort to bring the collection to
the Library. Their e=orts have been unstinting and their suggestions invaluable.
Georgette Dorn, Chief of the Hispanic Division, with Mexican Specialist Barbara
Tenenbaum, and Everette Larson, Head of Reference, have helped in a myriad of ways,
o=ering suggestions, collegial support, and splendid ideas for program collaboration.
Admiration and thanks to Irene Chambers, Chief of the Interpretive Programs O<ce;
Exhibit Directors Giulia Adelfio and Kimberli Curry; Education Specialist Susan Mordan;
Online Exhibition Coordinator Betsy Nahum-Miller; Registrar Tambra Johnson; and all
of the talented creative team who bring collections to life in the Library galleries and
through online exhibitions. The sta= of the Conservation Directorate, under the leadership of Dianne van der Reyden, has worked unstintingly to prepare artifacts for exhibit
and develop long-term plans for care and storage of the collection. I am especially grateful for the help of Maria Nugent, Nancy Lev-Alexander, Sylvia Albro, and Dan Paterson for
their ongoing involvement with Kislak materials.
I am deeply grateful to Ralph Eubanks, Director of the Publishing O<ce, who with
expertise and foresight has guided this publication to completion.
To Prosser Gi=ord, retired Director of the O<ce of Scholarly Programs, go thanks for
easing my entry into the Library: for orientation, intellectual stimulation, and moral support. Current Director Carolyn Brown with Robert Worden, Mary Lou Reker, Jane Sargus,
Robert Saladini, and the sta= of the Kluge Center have been unfailing in their assistance
to implement the Kislak Fellowship and Lecture and other public programs. We have
relied on Jeffrey Quilter, Harvard University, and David Cook, Florida International University, for critical appraisal of fellowship proposals. Thanks to Margrit Krewson, emeritus Germanic languages specialist, whose e=orts to secure the Schöner portfolio (which
includes both the 1507 Waldseemüller map, “America’s birth certificate,” and his Carta
Marina) sparked a conversation that helped to bring the enterprise into focus.
The pre-Columbian section of this catalog is largely the work of the late Lee Parsons,
former curator of the Kislak Collection, and Justin Kerr, who is also responsible for the
excellent photography, including his pioneering “rollout” images of Maya vases. More
than a decade ago they co-authored a catalog that is finally coming to fruition. Thanks
to Robert Sharer, John Carlson, and Scott Hutson, who have reviewed, updated, and expanded the work. We also acknowledge the scholars who have worked with the Kislak
Collection, many of whom have generously contributed articles for this publication.
Special recognition and thanks are due to members of the Kislak Collection Advisory
Committee. In addition to Dr. Billington and Dr. Marcum, three exceptional senior scholars—Robert Sharer, John Lombardi, and Norman Fiering—have provided wise counsel
and enthusiastic program direction over the years. Their involvement has made a real
di=erence. Other advisors have also helped in the development and growth of the Kislak
Collection, among them George Stuart, Gillette Gri<n, Michael Kan, Loa Traxler, and
the late Samuel Proctor. We are also grateful to Jon, Philip, and Paula Kislak for their continuing interest in the collection created by their father.
Lastly, thanks to Tom Bartelmo, Amy Vanecek-Smith, and Phyllis Shapiro of the Jay I.
Kislak Foundation, who have been constant in their support from the beginning.
arthur dunkelman
Curator, Kislak Collection
xxii