History questions

Who brought the printing press to Mexico?

The short answer: Juan Pablos brought the printing press to Mexico in 1539. But several people stood behind him.

Fray Juan de Zumárraga, the first bishop of Mexico, and Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza asked the Crown for a printing press to produce books of doctrine in New Spain. Juan Cromberger, one of the most important printers in Seville, took on the business and sent Juan Pablos, one of his journeymen, with a press, type, ink and paper.

Juan Pablos arrived with his wife, Jerónima Gutiérrez, and a pressman. The shop first worked under the name House of Juan Cromberger; years later Pablos printed under his own name. He died around 1560.

The press known as the Juan Pablos press is preserved at the National Museum of the Graphic Arts.