The Mexico-Toluca way. Project of the military engineer Manuel Agustín Mascaró. The New Spain, 1791-1795

Abstract

In this study we expose the diverse subjects and circumstances that occurred around the project of the Mexico-Toluca road made by the military engineer Manuel Agustín Mascaró. We begin with a biographical outline of the author and a general description of the project, and continue with an explanation of the historical context in which the manuscript, as well as the work, was made, from the socio-economic importance of the Roadas a communication channel for New Spain, to the utility of the Road and the appreciation of the travellers who journeyed by it in the middle of 19th century. Later we present the complete transcription of the manuscript written by Mascaró, accompanied by 4 previous letters. These documents comprise the branch of Roads and Highways in the General archives of the Nation of Mexico, and represent a clear example of the systematisation whith which the members of the Royal Body of Military engineers of Spain worked in American lands.