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Primary sourceDocumentNovember 1559

Signature of Bartolomé de las Casas

Bartolomé de las Casas · November 1559

His autograph signature from a 1559 letter donating his History of the Indies manuscript to a convent in Valladolid.

His own autograph signature, a direct physical trace of his hand near the end of his life.

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Handwritten ink signature in an old script reading partly 'Obispo de Chiapas' and 'de las Casas' with large looping flourishes on aged parchment-colored paper.
Signature of Bartolomé de las Casas, November 1559. Biblioteca Nacional de España.

About this source

What it is

This is the handwritten signature of Bartolomé de las Casas, former bishop of Chiapas, from a letter dated November 1559. In the letter he donated his manuscript of the History of the Indies to the convent of Saint Gregory in Valladolid, Spain. It is preserved at the Biblioteca Nacional de España.

Why it matters

A signature is a direct physical trace of a person's hand. This one dates from near the end of Las Casas's life, when he was arranging for his great history to be preserved after his death, showing how much importance he placed on his writings surviving him.

Look closer

  • What can a signature tell us about a person that a printed name cannot?
  • Why might Las Casas have taken care to formally donate his manuscript rather than simply leave it behind?
  • What does this act suggest about how he wanted to be remembered?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Bartolomé de las Casas on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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