Description

This Spanish-language schoolbook on the use and pronunciation of the letters of the alphabet and the rules of punctuation is the first book printed in New Mexico. In 1834, Mexican official Ramón Abréu brought a printing press from Mexico to Santa Fe, where Abréu and press operator Jesús María Baca produced the book under the direction of Father Antonio José Martínez (1793-1867). Martínez, a priest who founded schools in the Taos area and was an active supporter of Mexican independence, purchased the press the following year and moved it to ...