Finding aid to the Carl Ortwin Sauer Research Notebooks, 1930-1955

Title: Finding aid to the Carl Ortwin Sauer Research Notebooks, 1930-1955

Dates: 1930-1955

Collection Number: BANC MSS 99/380 m

Creator/Collector: Sauer, Carl Ortwin, 1889-1975

Extent: 12 cartons, 2 volumes (12.1 linear feet)

Repository: UC Berkeley. Bancroft Library

Abstract: Research notebooks of American geographer Carl Orwin Sauer, consisting of copies of documents from a range of Mexican and Spanish archives (dating from circa 1525 to 1802) relating to Sauer's research interests in Mexico and Latin America.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open for research.

Copyright has been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the appropriate curator or the Head of Public Services for forwarding. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and the right.

Finding aid to the Carl Ortwin Sauer Research Notebooks, 1930-1955. UC Berkeley. Bancroft Library

The Carl Ortwin Sauer Research Notebooks were given to The Bancroft Library by his daughter, Mrs. Edward Fitzsimons in 1998.

Carl Ortwin Sauer (December 24, 1889-July 18, 1975) was one of the twentieth century's most important geographers. He is remembered for developing the Berkeley School of geographic thought, which is distinguished by its cultural-historical focus. Sauer was born in Missouri and earned his doctorate in Geography from the University of Chicago in 1915. He taught at the University of Michigan from 1915 to 1923 and then accepted a position in the Geography Department at the University of California. He headed the department until 1954. Sauer's most famous work, The Morphology of Landscape, was published in 1925 and marked him as a clear opponent of environmental determinism. Sauer's interest in Mexico and Latin America dates to the 1920s. During the course of his career, he published widely on Ibero-America, particularly on the culture and historical geography of Native Americans in Latin America.

Research notebooks compiled by University of California Berkeley Geography professor Carl Ortwin Sauer between 1930 and 1955. These consist of copies of documents from a range of Mexican and Spanish archives (dating from circa 1525 to 1802) relating to Sauer's research interests in Mexico and Latin America. Documents are arranged in topical volumes dedicated to Indies in General and Cosmographies; West Indies (16th and 17th century); New Spain (16th and 17th century), New Spain Ramirez Visita (1550-1555); Michoacan; Nueva Galicia; Nueva Vizcaya; Oaxaca; Tlaxcala; Central America; Honduras; Tierra Firme; Guatamala; Franciscans and Jesuits in New Spain; Indian Uprisings; Mining; Cattle; Quicksilver; Inquisition; New Mexico; and Texas. Copies of documents are from the following repositories: National Library of Mexico (BNM), Spain's Archivo General de Indias (AGI), México's Archivo General de la Nación (AGN), Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid (RAH), Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid (AHN), and Biblioteca de Palacio, Madrid (BPM).