This volume of the series Viajes al siglo XIX (Travels to the nineteenth century) of the American Library dedicated to Manuel Payno, includes samples of the best incursions in the novel, chronicle, correspondence, essays and social criticism of the author. It continuous with the objective of the collection as part of the series: offering a representative sample of the literary, political and even geographical production of Payno to a wide audience,and serve as an introduction to his varied and rich work, and to the historical and cultural transformations that made it possible.