The most remarkable aspect about this small volume is its focus on a woman about whom previously nothing was known. Gelvira de Toledo, the Condesa de Galve during the 2nd half of the 17th century, was the wife of a Viceroy of New Spain, indistinct, buried by role and gender on the other side of the world from Europe. Her 27 letters to family and friends in Spain, here in translation (from the originals in the Archivo Historico Nacional In Madrid, Spain) open a small window on a period we know so little about.