These eight volumes of the proceedings of the cabildo of San Juan, Puerto Rico, are a legacy of the mayoralty of Doña Felisa R. de Gautier. Whatever comments may be forthcoming by historians of her period as head of the municipality, it is certain that they will include favorable remarks on this contribution. The two editors and their staff have faithfully reproduced an immense number of documents of great value to the students of Puerto Rico in particular and colonial history in general. These proceedings will now be widely available and this is particularly important when many interested students outside the major centers of Latin American studies have few opportunities to be exposed to published or unpublished documents.
The cabildo itself, dominated for many years by certain families, usually dealt with the same issues year after year: supply of meat and flour, commercial licenses, repairs to municipal property, health and charitable work. There were variations on these themes and it is interesting to note that over the years the council members, who often used to discuss various matters without recording them, appear to have had to become more open. This seems to have been particularly true during 1812-1813, when the cabildo operated under legislation emanating from Cádiz. The cabildo that met after Fernando VII had ordered the reintroduction of the regulations extant in 1808 apparently found it difficult to be as laconic as its predecessors.
The editors include indexes covering geographical, individual, and subject headings, but it would be helpful in future volumes of this nature if editors, who are the ones most familiar with the documents, provided their insights into the activities of the organization. It would also be useful to include some historical information and data about the various periods. In these volumes the marginal notes provide synopses of the paragraphs, but even a close reading of the proceedings does not always provide much understanding of the general situation in the municipality and its environs. Each volume also needs to contain a hint as to whether or not another is to follow. At present there is no clue as to why the editors did not reproduce documents on the periods 1789-1792, 1810-1811, or 1814 (the volume 1812-1814 includes only the meeting of 1 January 1814). Proceedings of this nature can stand on their own intrinsic worth, but all assistance the editors can provide the reader will increase their general value.
