Finding aid to the Carl Ortwin Sauer Research Notebooks, 1930-1955
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.
Biography/Administrative History
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
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).