A Catalogue of Pre-1840 Nahuatl Works Held by the Lilly Library

Abstract

EARLIEST BOOK known to have been printed in the New World was in Nahuatl.Nahuatl is the name of the Aztec language, spoken throughout central Mexico before the Spanish conquest; and this first book known to have been printed was the Breve y mas compendiosa doctrina cristiana en lengua m exicana y castellana published in 1539. 1 There are other books which have a claim to having been the first book printed in the Americas, since much of the history of early printing in Mexico remains unclear.Nevertheless, the amount of evidence in favor of the Doctrina cristiana makes its publication, if not its primacy, a certainty, although no copies exist today.One of the main reasons for the establishment of a printing press in Mexico centered around the need for materials to aid in the "spiritual conquest" of the area, the conversion of the conquered Aztec empire to Christianity.Thus it should come as no surprise that one of the first , if not the first, book printed in Mexico would be in Nahuatl.Throughout the next three centuries, the Nahuatl language continued to occupy a position of importance in the output of Mexican presses.Yet even through three centuries publications in Nahuatl did not lose their didactic nature, serving in the Christian education of the Indians.The Mendel Collection of the Lilly Library at Indiana University reflects the significance of Nahuatl in the history of Mexican printing.While the collection does not contain [ 69 J

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