A Compilation of Spanish and Mexican Law

With a New Introduction by Peter L. ReichProfessor of Law and Sumner ScholarDirector Mexico City Program Whittier Law SchoolRockwell's Compilation addressed the needs of miners and other individuals whoneeded to reconcile Mexican land titles with the new U.S. laws that went into effect in the territory acquired by the United States in the recently concluded Mexican-American War (1846-48). An impressive achievement and a notable contribution to comparative law it discusses Mexican mining and real estate laws and their Spanish colonial antecedents and offers comparisons to the common law of mines and mining. Also included are treaties and other general documents such as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and Mexican colonization laws from 1823 to 1846 and a vocabulary of Spanish words. Recognized as an authority at the time of its publication it remained a standard work for decades and is even cited today.[A] glance at the table of contents leaves no doubt that the work is at this time a desideratum. Nothing could be more timely than a translation of the Mexican laws relating to mines and real estate. Our large acquisition of territory and the rich mines found in it will render this book indispensable not only to every intelligent man migrating to this country but to every lawyer who desires to be informed on so interesting a subject. --Millard Fillmore President of the United States (1850-1853)John A. Rockwell [1803-1861] served as a member of the United States Houseof Representatives from the state of Connecticut for two terms beginning in1845. After leaving Congress in 1849 he established an international law practice specializing in claims involving Mexico.