The House of the First Printing Press in the Americas ( es, Casa de la Primera Imprenta de América) at the corner of Moneda and Licenciado Primo Verdad streets in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

was the home of the first printing press/print shop in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

. The printer Juan Pablos oversaw the printing of at least 35 books at this print shop between 1539, the date of the first book printed in the Americas, and his death in 1560.Yanet Aguilar Sosa, "El Tec digitaliza sus joyas bibliográficas,
El Universal
24 Sept. 2011. Retrieved 27 Nov. 2013. The house was originally constructed by

Gerónimo de Aguilar Jerónimo de Aguilar O.F.M. (1489–1531) was a Franciscan friar born in Écija, Spain. Aguilar was sent to Panama to serve as a missionary. He was later shipwrecked on the Yucatán Peninsula in 1511 and captured by the Maya. In 1519 Hernán ...

in 1524 and is located on the outer edge of what was the sacred precinct of the

Templo Mayor The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in ...

prior to the

Conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, ...

After receiving permission from Spanish king

Carlos V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

and the archbishop of Mexico City,

Juan de Zumárraga Juan de Zumárraga, OFM (1468 – June 3, 1548) was a Spanish Basque Franciscan prelate and the first Bishop of Mexico. He was also the region's first inquisitor. He wrote ''Doctrina breve'', the first book published in the Western Hemisph ...

had a printing press brought from Europe in 1539. The press was set up in this house, then called the "Casa de las Campanas" (House of the Bells) by the

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...

-based publisher with Italian printer Juan Pablos who worked for living expenses for ten years. They began printing viceregal- and Church-related documents. One of these documents was a catechism entitled ''Breve y más compendiosa doctrina christiana en lengua mexicana y castellana'' ("The Brief and Most Concise Christian Doctrine in the Mexican Language") written by the archbishop himself. After its stint as a print shop, the house changed hands numerous times and was used for a number of purposes. In the 17th century, it belonged to the Monastery of Santa Teresa de la Orden de las Carmelas Reformadas and later, in the 18th century, it belonged to the Royal Military Order of Nuestra Señora de la Merced Redención de Cautivos de la Ciudad de México. In 1847, U.S. troops occupied the house, destroying the archives that were within. The house was then owned by a number of civilians, including one who used the building to store furniture. In the 20th century, the building was mostly used for offices, including being the home to a paper and printing services operation called the "Imprenta y Papelería Militar 'Marte'." The house continued to change hands until 1989, when the

Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana The Metropolitan Autonomous University ( Spanish: ''Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana'') also known as UAM, is a Mexican public university. Founded in 1974 with the support of then-President Luis Echeverria Alvarez, the institution aims to be c ...

(UAM) bought the house with the intention of restoring it. UAM worked with the Historic Center Restoration Program, working with the Instituto Nacional de Antropología. About 82 cm below the surface of the ground floor the stone head of a serpent from Aztec times was discovered. It is possible that this head was visible to the occupants of the building in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today, the house serves as the Continuing Education Center for UAM with various exhibition rooms, a bookstore and facilities for conferences and courses. In 2008, the Book Museum opened here, with some of the oldest books in Mexico on display.

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:House Of The First Print Shop In The Americas Houses completed in 1524 Museums in Mexico City Printing press museums Historic house museums in Mexico Historic center of Mexico City Landmarks in Mexico City Buildings and structures in Mexico City Museums established in 2008 History of Mexico City Colonial Mexico New Spain 1539 establishments in New Spain 2008 establishments in Mexico Mexican culture Spanish Colonial architecture in Mexico