The manuscript depicts the tribute of Tarascan and Otomí Indians of the mines of Tzintzuntzan and Tlalpujava (Michocan, Mexico) in traditional Mexican Indian colonial picture writing and Spanish. The Indian drawings are on the recto only; the Spanish texts begin on the recto and continue on the verso. The main text is dated 1542 and this is thus the date of the drawings; a later legal statement is dated 1552. The manuscript bears four different texts in Spanish. The first occupies 21 lines on the recto (the first six of which are very faded) and continues for six lines on the verso, followed by various signatures. The second, third, and fourth texts are on the verso and occupy 10, 4 and 11 lines, respectively. The first, second, and fourth texts are by different 16th century hands. In addition to these texts, a single line of gloss on the recto appears to read: "Información y comutación de los Yndios Tarascos del pueblo de Acámbaro que está en encomienda."
