The Americas' First Printers

This dictionary is incredibly useful for learning about Nahuatl during the first decades after the Spanish conquest, but it is also important for the history of printing in the Americas. It is one of the earliest books to ever be printed anywhere in the Americas! The book was printed by Giovanni Paoli, better known by his Spanish name Juan Pablos (c. 1500-c. 1561), the first documented printer of the Americas. He was born in Lombardy in modern Italy around 1500, and arrived in Mexico in 1539. He established his printing house on behalf of Spanish printer Juan Cromberger who was based in Seville, Spain. Cromberger’s name appears on all early publications in Mexico until at least 1545, even though he never stepped foot in Mexico and in fact died a few years prior to that in 1540. After Cromberger’s death, Juan Pablos obtained permission to continue working as a printer on his own, and was able to put his name on works that he printed beginning in 1548. He continued to run his shop until his death around 1561.

The first book known to be printed in the Americas was in 1539. Molina’s dictionary was printed sixteen years later in 1555. This was only one year after Juan Pablos began working with Antonio de Espinosa, the second printer of Mexico. Espinosa first arrived in Mexico in 1550 and worked as a type smelter and type cutter for Pablos. It is likely he had some role in printing Molina’s dictionary, making this book even more special since both the first and second ever printers in Mexico had hands in its production. Espinosa eventually successfully petitioned to remove Pablos’ monopoly on printing in Mexico by 1559 and was able to begin printing on his own. In 1571, he was the one who printed the second edition of Molina’s dictionary.