Los gremios mexicanos la organización gremial en Nueva España, 1521-1861

xii+399 pages with appendixes, plates, illustrations and index. Octavo (8 3/4" x 6 3/4") issued in wrappers. Prologue by Rafael Altamira. From the library of Professor George M Foster. Colecci de estudios historico-economicos mexicanos de la cara Nacional de la Industria de Transformaci, 1. Limited to 750 copies. First edition.

The guilds were corporate estates, hierarchical patterns according to medieval craft guilds organized incumbent on a patron saint. The latter group was subject to an ordinance issued by the Cabildo of Mexico City and confirmed by the Viceroy. One judge was in charge of monitoring compliance with the provisions of the Ordinances. Within the profession there was a strict distinction between the categories of officers, trainees and teachers. The control that the ordinances imposed on the guilds caused a stagnation in production and that prevented any craftsman doing his trade, outside the guild. In addition, to enter it was necessary to be proficient in multiple professional and technical requirements such as economic as was the constant payment of taxes for entitlement to retain membership in the guild. This regulation encouraged the organization of workers and allowed a slight improvement in working conditions. The strict regulation gave rise to a form of paid work and there were some conflicts between free workers and master craftsmen. The guilds, in the economic structure had eventually died. Its death was inevitable and necessary. It is quite probable that the foundation trade guild, to serve as the association of the artisans, created what appeared years later. Barajas Montes de Oca said that the most important guilds during the colonial period were the tanners, decorators, painters, carpenters, carvers, coach builders, coopers, shoemakers, potters, cotton, weavers in general, textile workers, tailors and hairdressers, and it is significant that the most prominent mutual associations, initiatives of this type of organization correspond precisely to these branches of production.

George McClelland Foster, Jr born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on October 9, 1913, died on May 18, 2006, at his home in the hills above the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as a professor from 1953 to his retirement in 1979, when he became professor emeritus. His contributions to anthropological theory and practice still challenge us; in more than 300 publications, his writings encompass a wide diversity of topics, including acculturation, long-term fieldwork, peasant economies, pottery making, public health, social structure, symbolic systems, technological change, theories of illness and wellness, humoral medicine in Latin America, and worldview. The quantity, quality, and long-term value of his scholarly work led to his election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1976. Virtually all of his major publications have been reprinted and/or translated. Provenance from the executor of Foster's library laid in.

Condition:

Foster's stamp to front wrapper, spine age toned, light edge wear else a very good copy.