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Chicago's Newberry Library discovers rare maguey paper in collection
Little was known about the manuscript, which donated by Edward Ayer, a tycoon who made his fortune supplying railroad ties.
The manuscript, titled “A Sequence of Sermons for Sundays and Saints’ Days” and written by Sahagún between 1540 and 1563, was among the roughly 17,000 items related to Native peoples that Ayer, a Newberry trustee, donated to the library. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)Maguey — a Spanish word for agave plants — has been used to make everyday items like baskets in Mesoamerica since prehistoric times, according to the International Council of Museums publication. “This discovery helps balance a historical narrative that has long focused on the role of Spanish friars like Sahagún,” Leeming wrote in an email to the Tribune, “and has relegated the Native people who assisted him to the shadows.”
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