La errante travesía de los libros antiguos por Suramérica: Viajes a la Mérida colonial (1558-1802)

Abstract

The arrival of the first printed volumes to the colonial Merida, goes back to the beginnings of the process of exploration, conquest and effective occupation of the territory carried out by the Spanish Crown. Undoubtedly, throughout the Spanish-American colonial period, the transit of resources through printed materials played a fundamental role in the penetration of Amerindian cultures and in the expansion of European culture. However, the past of the document goes back to ancient traditions and its diffusion is due in large part to intercontinental and interoceanic trips that range from the Islamic civilization to the Spanish Atlantic ports. For this reason, its study and its meteo capacity allow opening another window in the search to know how the exchange of ideas was carried out in the process of globalization from 1492; assuming as protagonist of foreground an essential cultural product in the development of Western civilization: the book.