There have been booksellers in Peru since 1543. However, it was only after the 1580s that bookselling as a business formalized, increasing these merchants’ presence in the viceroyalty. This process was propelled by various causes. On the one hand, the viceroyalty had been successfully pacified, and had achieved an administrative order and economic position that made the territory attractive for merchants seeking new commercial ventures. On the other, the dispositions of the Council of Trent and the Third Council of Lima obliged the clergy to possess certain texts, creating an important market in need of books. There also already existed educational institutions and personnel in charge of Peru’s colonial administration, which also needed books from Europe of their own. The purpose of this article is therefore to explain the process of formalization of the bookselling business in Pe...

There have been booksellers in Peru since 1543. However, it was only after the 1580s that bookselling as a business formalized, increasing these merchants’ presence in the viceroyalty. This process was propelled by various causes. On the one hand, the viceroyalty had been successfully pacified, and had achieved an administrative order and economic position that made the territory attractive for merchants seeking new commercial ventures. On the other, the dispositions of the Council of Trent and the Third Council of Lima obliged the clergy to possess certain texts, creating an important market in need of books. There also already existed educational institutions and personnel in charge of Peru’s colonial administration, which also needed books from Europe of their own. The purpose of this article is therefore to explain the process of formalization of the bookselling business in Pe...

There have been booksellers in Peru since 1543. However, it was only after the 1580s that bookselling as a business formalized, increasing these merchants’ presence in the viceroyalty. This process was propelled by various causes. On the one hand, the viceroyalty had been successfully pacified, and had achieved an administrative order and economic position that made the territory attractive for merchants seeking new commercial ventures. On the other, the dispositions of the Council of Trent and the Third Council of Lima obliged the clergy to possess certain texts, creating an important market in need of books. There also already existed educational institutions and personnel in charge of Peru’s colonial administration, which also needed books from Europe of their own. The purpose of this article is therefore to explain the process of formalization of the bookselling business in Pe...

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo estudiar las actividades mercantiles de tres libreros asentados en Lima entre 1580 y 1620. A partir de ello, se analizará el proceso de consolidación de este tipo de comercio en el Perú. Se sostiene que, para que esto fuera posible, hubo dos aspectos importantes: por un lado, el desarrollo de material de lectura obligatorio para el clero a partir de lo establecido durante el Concilio de Trento que generó un mercado nuevo, rentable y seguro para los mercaderes dedicados al comercio de libros en los territorios que pertenecían a España. Por otro lado, en el virreinato, el proceso de pacificación y crecimiento económico durante este periodo, ofrecía un panorama atractivo y estable en donde iniciar un nuevo negocio. Por tal motivo, el comercio de libros en el Virreinato del Perú recién, durante las últimas décadas del siglo XVI y la...

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo estudiar las actividades mercantiles de tres libreros asentados en Lima entre 1580 y 1620. A partir de ello, se analizará el proceso de consolidación de este tipo de comercio en el Perú. Se sostiene que, para que esto fuera posible, hubo dos aspectos importantes: por un lado, el desarrollo de material de lectura obligatorio para el clero a partir de lo establecido durante el Concilio de Trento que generó un mercado nuevo, rentable y seguro para los mercaderes dedicados al comercio de libros en los territorios que pertenecían a España. Por otro lado, en el virreinato, el proceso de pacificación y crecimiento económico durante este periodo, ofrecía un panorama atractivo y estable en donde iniciar un nuevo negocio. Por tal motivo, el comercio de libros en el Virreinato del Perú recién, durante las últimas décadas del siglo XVI y la...