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Exceptionally rare autograph fragment bearing Francisco Pizarro's distinctive double rubric (signature mark), penned in bold ink on off-white 3.25 x 2 sheet, neatly excised from a larger manuscript. Beneath the paired rubrics appears the later manuscript notation, "Jauja. 1534." Archivally matted and framed with a large portrait and engraved plaque to an overall size of 28 x 21.25. In fine condition.
Illiterate throughout his life, Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475–1541) rose from humble beginnings as the illegitimate son of a Spanish infantry captain to become one of history's most consequential – and controversial – conquistadors. Despite his inability to read or write, he secured royal backing for his ambitions through the Capitulación de Toledo of 1529, by which Charles V appointed him governor of New Castile and authorized his proposed conquest of Peru. Armed with this commission, Pizarro led the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, capturing Emperor Atahualpa at Cajamarca in 1532 before completing the conquest of Peru. He established the first Spanish capital at Jauja in April 1534 and founded the City of Kings (Lima) the following year, laying the foundations of Spain's colonial rule in South America. Because he could not write his name, Pizarro authenticated official documents with a distinctive double rubric that served as his legal signature, often accompanied by his name penned by a secretary. As one of the principal architects of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, Pizarro left behind remarkably little autograph material, making surviving examples of his distinctive rubric among the rarest surviving artifacts directly connected to the conquest of the Americas.
The later manuscript notation, "Jauja. 1534," references the settlement founded by Pizarro on April 25, 1534, as the first Spanish capital of Peru before the seat of government was transferred to the newly founded City of Kings (Lima) the following year. Although the notation itself was added in a later hand, it identifies one of the most historically significant locations associated with the earliest years of Spanish colonial administration in South America.
The fragment boasts distinguished provenance, descending through the collection of Elizabeth Coombs Adams (1808–1903), granddaughter of President John Adams and daughter of Thomas Boylston Adams. A lifelong resident of Quincy, Massachusetts, Elizabeth Adams devoted herself to preserving both her family's papers and an important collection of historical manuscripts. Upon her death in 1903, the collection passed by descent through the Bartlett family, remaining in private hands for more than a century before entering the marketplace.
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