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Assembled over some 40 years, Kislak Foundation collections feature art works, artifacts, books, manuscripts, maps and historic documents related to early
American history and the cultures of Florida, the Caribbean and Mesoamerica.
Foundation holdings include significant original documents and books by historic figures from the great age of discovery - manuscripts by explorers such as
Hernando Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, conquistador of Florida, as well as seminal books by the earliest
chroniclers of the New World such as Christopher Columbus and Italian historian Peter Martyr. The collection also includes unique later books and documents such
as George Washington's 1762 diary and letters in the hand of Thomas Jefferson from 1804 and 1809.
Particularly important is the Foundation's collection of Floridiana - books,
manuscripts, maps and letters related to the early history of Florida, from 16th century writings and drawings by the first European explorers to later
works by naturalists Audubon, Catesby and Bartram.
The Kislak collection of indigenous art of the Americas reflects more than 25 centuries of the development of pre-Columbian culture, primarily in Mesoamerica,
the northern center of high civilization centered in Mexico and Guatemala. The collection includes objects extending from the early Olmecs of
Mexico (1800 B.C.) to the Aztecs, conquered by Cortés in 1521. More than half the collection represents objects created by the Maya, the
most sophisticated indigenous culture, whose classic period flourished from A.D. 200 to 900. More than 200 objects, mainly from Mexico and Guatemala,
are displayed in the Kislak Foundation's gallery in Miami Lakes, Florida.
Kislak Foundation collections include more than 2,000 rare books, approximately 400 manuscripts and historic documents, about 450 maps, some 500 art works
and a 5,000-volume research library.
An important recent acquisition is a series of eight panoramic paintings portraying the historic Conquest of Mexico. Created in the second half of
the 17th century, the series is recognized as an outstanding example of Mexican colonial art.
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