Historical Background
The author of the dictionary is Alonso de Molina (c. 1513-c. 1579). He was a Franciscan cleric and grammarian. Born in Spain, he moved to Mexico in 1522 when he was still a child. He grew up playing with Nahuatl-speaking children, allowing him to become fluent in the language.
The first edition of his dictionary, entitled Aquí comiença un vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana (Here begins a vocabulary in the Spanish and Mexican language), was printed in 1555. It focuses on translating Spanish to Nahuatl, the dominant indigenous language of what is now central Mexico. Nahuatl was the lingua franca of the area at the time of the arrival of Europeans in 1519. The first grammar book printed about an indigenous American language was printed in 1547 - Andrés de Olmos’ Arte de la lengua mexicana (Art of the Mexican language). However, Molina’s work is the first vocabulary of an indigenous American language.
The second edition of Molina's dictionary has the new title Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana (Vocabulary in the Spanish and Mexican language) and was printed in 1571. It includes a Nahuatl to Spanish section not found in the first edition. These dictionaries have been invaluable to scholars as they have allowed a peek into language sharing and word loaning at the early stages of contact between speakers of Nahuatl and Spanish.