Mary J. Straw Cook
Auteur van Loretto: The Sisters and Their Santa Fe Chapel
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Werken van Mary J. Straw Cook
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Algemene kennis
- Officiële naam
- Cook, Mary Jean Straw
- Geslacht
- female
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- Werken
- 2
- Leden
- 41
- Populariteit
- #363,652
- Waardering
- 3.0
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- 2
- ISBNs
- 3
The subtitle is misnomer. Doña Tules was never a courtesan in the usual sense of the term; she was wealthy enough on her own that she didn’t need to sell her favors. She did live out of wedlock with a succession of lovers; however Cook argues that the Church rules in New Mexico at the time made it extremely expensive to get married and most couples didn’t. Similarly, Doña Tules wasn’t really a gambler either; she ran the bank in a monte game. The rules of monte made it extremely difficult for the bank to lose and dealer/banker with a modicum of card skill could make it impossible. Hence Doña Tules simply absorbed cash from miners, traders, and anyone else who could afford it; there wasn’t really any gambling on her part.
Cook has done yeoman research, tracking down the aforementioned documents plus maps of Santa Fe during Doña Tules lifetime and a floor plan of her house. This last is a shred of potential evidence to suggest that Doña Tules might have been engaged in activities involving negotiations over young ladies’ virtue; the dwelling seems to have an inordinate number of bedrooms for a single woman or a casual couple. However, I point out that I live alone but my house has three bedrooms; I’m not running a brothel in it (I’m running a library, which is quite different. Mostly).
As a concession to marketability, the book cover is a drawing of a devastating beautiful Hispanic lady, with high-piled hair, lace gloves, a heart-shaped fan, and a come-hither glance
However, the only authenticated image of Doña Tules shows a lady with a somewhat harder visage
Perhaps the artist had just lost his bankroll at monte and was feeling uncharitably inclined.
Well, not exactly a role model for young Hispanic ladies, but interesting enough. Well referenced, including appendices with original documents. Illustrations are mostly views of early Santa Fe and portraits of various important personages.
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