The Mexican Mesta: The Administration of Ranching in Colonial Mexico

xii+253 pages with figures, appendices, bibliography and index. Royal octavo (9 1/4" x 6 1/4") bound in original publisher's half color cloth with dark brown lettering to spine and pictorial brands to cover in original pictorial jacket. The Mexican Mesta--the first stockmen's association in America--left a lasting legacy to ranching in Mexico and the western United States. This is the story of that institution, from its origins in the Old World and its influence today. The author describes how stock raising expanded in New Spain, how the Mesta was extended to regulate ranching and solve attendant problems, and how Mesta played an important role in the founding of the landed aristocracy. The aim is to show how Spanish authorities, through the medium of the Mesta, regulated and controlled the pastoral industry more efficiently in New Spain than in other parts of colonial Spanish America. Condition: Heal bumped. Jacket closed tears at points, edge wear else a better than very good copy in a very good jacket.…