Indigenous burial rites prohibited

Isidoro Sainz de Alfaro y Beaumont; Pedro Ocón.

Circular, que dirige el Senor Gobernador de la Sagrada Mitra á los Parrocos, Eclesiasticos y Fieles Cristianos del Arzobispado de Mexico, sobre Ereccion de Cementerios fuera de las Poblaciones.

México City, Oficina de Doña María Fernández de Jaúregui, 1809.

8°. [2], 36 pp.

Contemporary marbled paper wrappers.

First and only edition of an explanation of the rules and regulations for burying the dead in the Archdiocese of Mexico. The rules for the Christian way of burial were not well observed by the local population. The rules of Christian burial were not well observed by the local population and this prompted the Archbishop of Mexico to commission his cousin the Inquisitor to write the current work. Author Isidoro Sainz de Alfaro y Beaumont was Inquisidor and the cousin of Archbishop And Viceroy Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont. To make his point, he cites examples from the Old Testament that emphasize the importance of proper administration and burial, as was already decreed by the Viceroyal in 1787.  “From this very certain fact, it can be deduced that the practice of burying the dead outside of towns is perhaps as old as the world. The horror they cause the living, the stench they exhale, at the same time that by a kind of natural instinct they impel man to get away from their presence, have always forced the Nations of some culture to preserve mortals from contagion and damages that can result from multiplying burials in the Towns.”
This copy signed in ink on the last page by Isidoro Sainz de Alfaro y Beaumont and in name of the governor by secretary Pedro Ocon.

Condition: covers stained. Labels on front cover and verso of title-page. Title-page stained, rest slight to minor spotting throughout. Otherwise in good condition.

Reference: Medina, Mexico, 10306; Palau 285401.