Antonio Ricardo
Encyclopedia
Biography
Antonio Ricciardi was born in Turin in 1532. His father Sebastiano Ricciardi came from Monticello d'AlbaMonticello d'Alba
Monticello d'Alba is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located on the left bank of the Tanaro river, about 45 km southeast of Turin and about 50 km northeast of Cuneo....
, and his mother Gigliani Pallodi was a native of Turin. He had a brother Pietro, who lived in Venice. Ricciardi worked with the printer Gerolamo Farina in Turin. Afterwards he went to Venice and Lyon, where he met Pedro Ocharte
Pedro Ocharte
Pedro Ocharte was one of the first printers in the Americas, active from 1563 to 1592.Originally from Rouen in France, Ocharte came to the City of Mexico in New Spain around 1549. He married Maria de Figueroa, the daughter of printer Juan Pablos, and in 1563 took over the operation of Pablos's press...
, one of the earliest printers in Mexico. Together they traveled to Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
and Medina del Campo
Medina del Campo
Medina del Campo is a town located in the middle of the Spanish Meseta Central, in the province of Valladolid, Castile-Leon autonomous region, 45 km from Valladolid. It is the capital of a farming area, far away from the great economic centres.-History:...
, where they worked with the printers Del Canto.
Ricardo emigrated to Mexico in presumably May 1570, where he worked in the shop of Pedro Ocharte. He also married Catalina Aguda in those years. He was a printer in Mexico City from 1577 to 1579, with his office in the San Pedro y San Pablo College
San Pedro y San Pablo College (Museum of Light)
The San Pedro y San Pablo College complex has seen a lot of changes since it was built in late 16th and early 17th centuries, and today the church portion of the complex is home to the Museo de la Luz sponsored by the National Autonomous University of Mexico...
of the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
. In those three years, he printed at least twelve works, published in ten books.
He moved to Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
in March 1580 and from there moved on to Callao
Callao
Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...
, on the Peruvian coast, in January 1581. From there he travelled to Lima. He left his wife behind in Mexico City, presumably to deal with his creditors: one of those was Pedro Ocharte, who had supplied him with the necessary equipment to set up his own printing office. For three years, he tried to get the necessary royal approval to become a printer: finally, on 13 February 1584, the Jesuits gave him the permission to start printing texts for them, without having received the royal approval yet.
The Third Council of Lima
Third Council of Lima
The Third Council of Lima was a council of the Roman Catholic Church in Lima, at the time the capital of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. It was the most important of the three councils celebrated in Lima during the 16th century, since it definitively organized the Church in the Americas...
had ordered the production of a trilingual catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
in Spanish, Quechua
Quechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
and Aymara
Aymara language
Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...
. Ricardo received the order, thereby becoming the first printer in South America, and he remained the only one until his death. He was granted official permission to set up a printing press in Lima from Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
on 7 August 1584. The first publication ever printed in Southern America was a four page leaflet with the information about the new Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
of 1582, which was immediately adopted by Spain, but which wasn't yet communicated to the colonies. The next publication by Ricardo, and the first book ever printed in Southern America, was the Doctrina Christiana. Between 1584 and 1605, Ricardo would publish at least 40 works.
In 1605, Ricardo was summoned to appear before the Inquisition. The same year or the next year, he died. His office was taken over by Francisco del Canto, a son of the Del Canto's from Median del Campo, who had worked in Ricardo's workshop previously and who would hold the monopoly on printing in Peru until 1619.
In Mexico
- 1577: EmblemataEmblemataUsually known simply as the "Emblemata", the first emblem book appeared in Augsburg in 1531 under the title Viri Clarissimi D. Andreae Alciati Iurisconsultiss. Mediol. Ad D. Chonradum Peutingerum Augustanum, Iurisconsultum Emblematum Liber...
by Andreas Alciatus - 1577: TristesTristiaThe Tristia is a collection of letters written in elegiac couplets by the Augustan poet Ovid during his exile from Rome. Despite five books of his copious bewailing of his fate, the immediate cause of Augustus's banishment of the greatest living Latin poet to Pontus in 8 AD remains a mystery...
by OvidOvidPublius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria... - 1577: Sermonario en lengua Mexicana, together with Catechismo en lengua Mexicana y Española by Juan de la AnunciacionJuan de la AnunciaciónJuan de la Anunciación was a Mexican Augustinian and linguist of the Nahuatl language.-References:...
- 1577: Doctrinalis fidei in mechuacanensium Indorum linguam, by Juan de Medina Plaza
- 1578: Vocabulario en lengua çapoteca, by Juan de CórdovaJuan de CórdovaJuan de Córdova was a Spanish Dominican linguist, known for his studies of the Zapotec languages. It is not certain whether Córdova was his family name, or whether he assumed it from his native city after he became a Dominican.-Life:He was first a soldier, serving in Flanders as ensign...
- 1578: Introductio in dialecticam Aristotelis, by Francisco de ToledoFranciscus ToletusFrancisco de Toledo, born the 4 October 1532 at Cordoba and died the 14 September 1596 in Rome, was a Spanish Jesuit theologian, Biblical exegete and professor at the Roman College...
: published together with Reverendi do. Francisci Maurolyci, abbatis and Computus ecclesiasticus in summam collectus, by Francesco MaurolicoFrancesco MaurolicoFrancesco Maurolico was a Greek mathematician and astronomer of Sicily. Throughout his lifetime, he made contributions to the fields of geometry, optics, conics, mechanics, music, and astronomy... - 1578: Suma y Recopilacion de Cirugia, by Alonso Lopez de Hinojoso, the first text on surgery printed in the Americas
- 1579: De constructione octo partium orationis, by Manuel Álvares
- 1579: Tractado breve de anothomia y chirugia, by Agustin Farfan
- 1579: Carta, by Pedro de MoralesPedro de MoralesPedro de Morales was a Spanish writer....
In Peru
- 1584: Pragmatica, a four page edict on the new Gregorian calendar, probably the first work printed in South America
- 1584: Doctrina Christiana y catecismo para instruccion de los Indios, the first book printed in South America, and the first printed book with text in QuechuaQuechua languagesQuechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
and AymaraAymara languageAymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia... - 1585: Tercero cathecismo y exposicion de la doctrina christiana, por sermones
- 1585: Confessionario para los curas de Indios
- 1585: Critica de Aristoteles by José de AcostaJosé de AcostaJosé de Acosta was a Spanish 16th-century Jesuit missionary and naturalist in Latin America.-Life:...
- 1586: Arte, y vocabulario en la lengua general del Peru, llamada Quichua (reprinted 1603, 1604 and 1614)
- 1586: Un libro de oraciones by Alonso de Barzana
- 1596: Primero Parte del Arauco Domado by Pedro de OñaPedro de OñaPedro de Oña is considered the first known poet born in Chile, and is best remembered for his verse epic poem Primera parte de Arauco domado . Born in Angol, he was the son of a military captain, Gregorio de Oña, who had perished during the conquest of Chile by Spain...
, first impression of the best known work of Chile's first poet - 1597: Libro general delas reduciones de plata, by Joan de Belveder
- 1598: Symbolico Catholico Indiano, by Geronimo de Ore
- 1601: Constituciones de los F. Menores desta Provincia delos doze Apostoles del Piru
- 1602: Primera parte de la miscelanea austral by Diego d'Avalos y Figueroa
- 1602: Constituciones y ordenanças de la Universidad, y Studio General de la Ciudad de los Reyes del Piru
- 1603: Curia filipica, by Juan de Hevia Bolaños
- 1604: Tratado y parcero sobre el servicio personal de los Indios del Peru, by Miguel de Agia
- 1606: Commentarii ac quaestiones in universam Aristotelis ac subtilissimi doctoris Jhoannis Duns Scoti logicam by Jéronimo Valera