Cheryl E. Martin

Historia de la vida cotidiana en Mexico: tomo III: El siglo XVIII: Entre tradicion y cambio (review)

Inspired by a research seminar held at the Colegio de Mexico in 1998, this splendidly presented volume gathers the work of nineteen social historians of colonial Mexico, many of them well known veterans, others newer to the profession. About half of the authors are based in Mexico, but scholars from Argentina, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Great Britain, and France are also represented. The range of specific subjects is comprehensive. Food and drink, clothing, domestic architecture, the use of urban space, famine, disease, funeral customs, festivals, religious practice, bullfights, insults, and domestic violence—these are just some of the topics addressed. Mexico City receives ample coverage, but provincial towns, from Chihuahua and Saltillo in the north to Merida in the south, and rural communities appear as well. A number of the essays showcase the glittering lifestyles of colonial elites, but vaqueros, street vendors, beggars, Indians, criminals on the scaffold and children at play all take their places alongside the well-dressed viceroys, counts, and mining magnates. A lavish array of expertly reproduced color and black-and-white illustrations, including eighteenth-century paintings and engravings, photographs, and archival documents, further enhances the volumes visual appeal and scholarly value.