A Guide to Historical Sources in Saltillo, Coahuila Open Access

The guide encompasses all the major civil and ecclesiastical archives in Saltillo. It is a useful guide, but it is not a model of archival reporting. There is an imbalance in the attention given to the state archives. For example, the Archivo de Justicia is described as massive and complete (p. 61), but is summarized in one page. The Biblioteca del Congreso and the Registro de Propiedades together receive three pages. The forty pages given to the Archivo General of Coahuila contain an internal imbalance. In a sample of condensed entries from the archival guides, the years from 1688 to 1875 are compressed into four pages, while the years from 1876 are given a run of thirty-one pages. Insufficient access to the municipal archive causes a lapse in the reporting of its contents. The key ramos of Inventories y Testamentos (1617-1846) and Aetas del Ayuntamiento (1701-1919) are not mentioned, while the colonial section of the municipal Ramo General is credited with thirty legajos fewer than it actually contains. The parish archives of Santiago and San Esteban are well handled. Researchers will still want to look over this guide. It locates the archives and gives a general indication of their holdings.