(Catholic Church) — Joseph de Acosta (ed.) | First edition of one of Latin America's earliest printed books

(Catholic Church) — Joseph de Acosta (ed.)

Tercero cathecismo y exposicion de la Doctrina Christiana, por Sermones…Los Reyes. [Lima]: Por Antonio Ricardo, 1585

4to (200 x 135 mm). Large Jesuit device on title-page, woodcut initials, text in Spanish in italic type, text in Quechua and Aymara in two columns and roman type; some annotations, leaves dampstained and browned, small tears on leaves 127, 128, repair on 196 without loss of text. Contemporary limp vellum, text block edges speckled red, remains of ties; vellum slightly darkened, later ownership signature on endpapers.

First edition of a notable work for the religious, ethnological, and linguistic history of early colonial Peru.

Printer Antonio Ricardo began his career in Mexico City in the 1570s within the printing shop of Pedro Ocharte before casting out on his own. The Italian printer was summoned to Peru in 1580 to produce works following the Third Council of Lima. As the religious assembly most directly involved in the conversion of Peru's indigenous society and the maintenance of the Church, the council emphasized the urgency and necessity of producing Christian texts in Spanish and indigenous languages.

Despite this need, the printer would face several handicaps before beginning his work. José Montelongo, Curator of Latin Books of the John Carter Library notes that, "[Ricardo] needed special authorization — a bureaucratic hurdle compounded by the practical difficulties of transporting his craft. A printing press, after all, meant hauling hundreds of pounds of specialized equipment across vast distances."

The license was finally officially granted on 13 February 1584. The first piece from Ricardo's press, and the first work printed in South America, was Pragmatica de los diez dias del año in July 1854, concerning the adoption of the Gregorian calendar. With text prepared by Juan de Atiença and José de Acosta, Tercero cathecismo is the third work or fourth book printed by Ricardo with the first press in South America. Printed with headings in Spanish, the indigenous languages of Quecha and Aymara are found in two columns. This present copy, seldom found at auction, is signed by de Acosta on the title page.

Alongside several other Jesuits, Joseph de Acosta, S.J., journeyed to South America in 1570 from his native Spain. After departing Lima, he spent years traveling the interior of Peru, where both Quecha and Aymara were the most-spoken languages in the Andes. Upon his return to Spain, De Acosta would produce several other works concerning the New World, such as De natura novi orbis (1588) and Historia natural y moral de las Indias (1590).

Only three copies of the present work have been offered at auction in the past 50 years.

REFERENCES

Medina, Lima 3; Palau 330311; Sabin 94838; BM, Pre-1601 Spanish STC (1966) p. 112; JCB I, i, 330; Not in Adams; Hampe-Martínez; "The Diffusion of Books and Ideas in Colonial Peru: A Study of Private Libraries in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries" in Hispanic American Historical Review, 1 May 1993; 73 (2): 211–234; Inman, Michael "Antonio Ricardo: South America’s First Printer.” New York Public Library, 2 July 2018, www.nypl.org/blog/2018/07/02/antonio-ricardo-south-america-first-printer-rare-books; Montelongo, José. “Antonio Ricardo: A 16th­‑Century Printer on Both Sides of the Equator.” John Carter Brown Library News, 4 Sept. 2024, jcblibrary.org/news/antonio-ricardo-16th-century-printer-both-sides-equator/. Accessed 12 May 2026

PROVENANCE

Father Joseph de Acosta, S.J. (signature to title) — Raul Valdes Pinilla