The Mexican Pamphlet Collection of the Sutro Library, a special collections branch of the California State Library, is the largest of its kind in the world, covering the period 1607-1888, with the majority of imprints dating from 1810 to 1860. These pamphlets cover all aspects of Mexican life: political, religious, literary, economic, scientific, and others. Especially noteworthy are the large number of works by Leon y Gama, Fernandez de Lizardi, El Papista, and Davila and Carlos Maria Bustamento, many of which are the only known copies. Also included are the annual reports of the ministries, rare sermons, and runs of scarce periodicals such as El Iris.

As Richard H. Dillon, former director of the Sutro Library has written, "The brochures, flyers, and tracts, center around certain dates-1811-1812, 1820, and 1821-1823. The first period covers the outbreak of the revolutions against Spain; the second, the reaffirmation of the Constitution of Cadiz, promulgated eight years earlier. The third high point of publishing activity, 1821-1823, coincides with the birth of the Republic of Mexico."

Dillon notes more importantly about the collection that "[w]ritten in the heat of argument, of battle, of revolution," the pamphlets contained in this vast collection "bring to life a time and place removed from us by hundreds of miles and years."

161 reels in four parts

Part 1: 40 reels
Part 2: 40 reels
Part 3: 40 reels
Part 4: 41 reels