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6054B

Decorated Initials

Decorated Initials

6054B
Artist
Workshops of Pedro Ocharte, Antonio Ricardo (Ciudad de México and Lima) and Francisco del Canto (but only as printers?) 
Title
Decorated Initials (White Roman initials over fantastic-creature decorations)
Date
1578-1617
Medium
Woodcut or woodcut printing. Measurements? Printed in the following works:  Fray Juan de Córdoba O.P. Vocabulario en lengua zapoteca. Ciudad de México: Pedro Ocharte (impreso por Antonio Ricardo), 1578 [Letter H (shown here)] — Alonso de Molina, Doctrina Christiana, en lengua mexicana[.] Ciudad de México: Pedro Ocharte, 1578 [Letter N (shown here)] —  Doctrina Christiana y Catecismo […] Compuesto por auctoridad del Concilio Prouincial, que se celebro en la Ciudad de los Reyes el año de 1583[.] Impresso en la Ciudad de los Reyes por Antonio Ricardo, primero impressor en estos Reynos del Piru. Año de MDLXXXIIII. [Letter D2] — Iulianus Martellus, Praecepta Grammatices[.] Lima: Antonio Ricardo, 1594 [Letters H, N] — Pedro de Oña, Primera parte de Arauco Domado. Lima: Antonio Ricardo: 1596 [Letters D1, P (both shown here)] — Diego Flores, Preciosa Margarita de la […] Virgen María[.] Lima: Francisco del Canto, 1611 [Letter C (shown here)] — Ioan de Hevia Volaño, Labyrintho de comercio terrestre y naval[.] Lima: Francisco del Canto, 1617 [Letter C(shown here), R (shown here)].
Location
Antiguas Imprentas de Pedro Ocharte, Antonio Ricardo (Ciudad de México), Antonio Ricardo (Lima), Frncisco del Canto (Lima).
Photo Source
John Carter Brown Library || Princeton University Library/openlibrary || Mori 2013a || Mori 2013b. Not reproduced at scale vis-à-vis the images of the impressions in 6054A.
Correspondence Credit
Rodríguez-Buckingham 1985, 48 and Rodríguez-Buckingham 1989, 49 show that letters D1 and P in this set were printed from the same woodblocks as the corresponding letters in 6054A, which were printed in Miguel Fuenllana, Libro de música para vihuela intitulado Orphenica Lyra[.] Sevilla: Martín de Montesdoca, 1554.
Note
Line-by-line similarities between the images of 6054A and 6054B suggest that all of these letters were printed from one and the same set of types. Said types were printed in Seville by Martín de Montesdoca between 1553 and 1558. In 1559 Montesdoca decided to end his publishing career, and sold some of his typographic wares to Juan Gutiérrez, a fellow printer in Seville. The types in question must have been part of this sale, as Gutiérrez printed them between 1559 and 1570. Antonio Ricardo was an Italian typographer who worked in Venice, Lyon, Valladolid, and Medina del Campo. In 1570, Ricardo left Europe and traveled to Mexico to become one of the first publishers of the New World. It follows that Ricardo could have acquired our types in Seville —the required point of departure for the Indies— and brought them along in his transatlantic journey. Ricardo could then print these types, first in Mexico City with his associate, Pedro Ocharte, and then in Lima, where he relocated in 1580. Ricardo printed these types through his death in 1606. Then the types must have passed on to his successor, Francisco del Canto, who printed them in Lima through his demise ca. 1620.
Item
6054B
Correspondences
Archive: 6054A/6054B
Archive: 6054A/6054B
Archive: 6054A/6054B
Archive: 6054A/6054B
Archive: 6054A/6054B
6054A/6054B