The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 609
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searching Spanish land tenure and Indian policies and how these might
affect the Indian land claims litigation then making its way through the
courts. Because I needed to work in the Mexican archives to complete my
dissertation, he invited me to join him, and there I learned from a master
what it meant to be a tenacious researcher. This meant beginning the day
with a good breakfast in the restaurant of the Majestic Hotel on the Zoca-
lo, where he stayed. I would join him there after a long ride on a pesero
from the Polanco district, where I was fortunate enough to have an aunt
who took me in. Now Neighbours's concept of a reasonable meal was
food followed by coffee and long conversations with friends-usually re-
quiring about two hours, much in the Mexican tradition. He being an ear-
ly riser, it was rare that we were not in the archives of the Archivo Gener-
al de la Naci6n, then located in the Palacio Nacional, by their nine
o'clock opening. He attacked the documents in a slow deliberate pace,
but with the tenacity of a bulldog, and, taking few breaks, worked steadily
until closing time. Then it was back to the Majestic for a leisurely lunch
followed by a four-hour session (5 to 9) in the Biblioteca Nacional, then
located at the corner of Isabel la Catolica and Reptiblica de Salvador.
His pursuit of leads and efforts to locate other relative documents did
not end there. He made occasional forays to the archives in the Secretaria
de Relaciones Exteriores and to the Secretaria de Agricultura, which
housed the Mapoteca Orozco y Berra. Weekends provided a deserved
respite from the archival regimen, but the days were just as full, visiting
the numerous museums, archeological sites, and bookstores. On Sundays
we could usually count on my uncle to take us to visit attractions outside
the city.
Many of you may know that Doc was an avid book collector, something
I did not appreciate about him until many years later. Numerous visits
were made to the myriad of secondhand and rare bookstores located on
Donceles, Cinco de Mayo, and elsewhere. Being pretty much a novice, I
would quickly look through shelves and stacks of books, usually finding
nothing I felt was important enough to buy. Doc, however, loved books
and developed the acquisition of them into an art form. He pursued
them with the same deliberateness exhibited in his research, slowly and
methodically scanning the numerous selections, almost always finding an
overlooked plum.
During this stay he developed a particularly cordial relationship with Sr.
Manuel Porrua, the proprietor of a bookstore that still bears his name on
Cinco de Mayo close to Isabel la Catolica. Porrua eventually invited us to
view his own special collection of books housed in a spacious room above
the store. After several visits with the book dealer, Doc dubbed him the
"pirate," in part because of his shameless self-promotion. Porrua once609
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003, periodical, 2003; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101223/m1/687/: accessed March 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.