A stolen 16th-century Paraguayan manuscript has been found at an Upper West Side book dealer, according to a recent report.
The manuscript, which the Manhattan District Attorney’s office says was stolen from Paraguay’s National Archives at least a decade ago, was written, signed and dated in 1598 by colonial governor Hernando Arias de Saavedra. The document laid out laws governing the daily life of the indigenous people of what was a Spanish colony at the time.
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The Antiquities Tracking Unit division of the D.A.’s office recovered the manuscript earlier this month, having received a tip in January from the Consul General of Paraguay in New York. The D.A.’s office says the manuscript, which was held in the National Archive of Paraguay since 1870, appeared at an NYC auction house in 2013 shortly after having been stolen.
Gothamist located an online listing for the manuscript posted by Martayan Lan, an Upper West Side book dealer that “ranks among the leading dealers in rare books, manuscripts, and fine antique maps,” according to its own website. The address for the business is listed as 10 West 66th Street, Ste 26B.
An owner of the shop told Gothamist it was “a shock” to have been contacted by the D.A.’s office as part of the investigation. The shop’s ownership pointed blame at Swann Auction Galleries, an NYC auction house from whom they purchased the manuscript in 2013.
Martayan Lan’s online listing for the manuscript cites a price tag of $18,500. It says that its author, known as Hernandarias, was the “first person born in the Americas to become governor of a European colony in the New World.”
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