Rare Mesoamerican Maguey Paper: Botanical Origin, Regional Manufacture, & Use

About

This presentation will serve as Mary Elizabeth (Betsy) Haude’s capstone lecture for her 2025 Kluge Staff Fellowship. Haude’s presentation will focus on maguey paper, which was made by Indigenous Mesoamerican artisans from the inner fibers of agave leaves. Only ten manuscripts have been identified in the world as being made of maguey paper, and all ten are from 16th century Mexico. The inspiration for this research project resulted from Haude’s technical examination of an important manuscript in the Library of Congress’s collections, the 1531 Huexotzinco Codex. It concerns the legal case of the conquistador Hernán Cortés and contains eight colorful paintings made by Indigenous Mexican artists that were used as evidence in the trial. While the codex is intellectually and historically significant, it is also important because it contains equal amounts of the two native Mesoamerican paper types, the rare maguey paper and the better-known amate paper made from the inner bark of Ficus, or fig trees.

The presentation will show how Mesoamerican papers were made, discuss the regions where they were produced, and show which agave species were used to make paper. In addition, Haude’s presentation will show the relationship between maguey paper and other products made from agaves, like the fermented and mildly alcoholic beverage pulque. The presentation will also explore the region-specific manufacture of maguey paper in conjunction with the production of pulque for use in rituals at…

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Library of Congress, in Library of Congress: talks and concerts

Licence or status

Rights statement at the Library of Congress, as the Library of Congress states it.

Credit

Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

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