The interior of Palafoxiana library in Puebla, Mexico, Tuesday, Sept. 13,2022 It is the earliest town library in the Americas, according to UNESCO. (AP Photo/Pablo Spencer) The Associated Press By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ, Associated Press PUEBLA, Mexico (AP)– It is, according to UNESCO, the earliest town library in the Americas, stashed from the street front at a cultural center in the historical heart of this Mexican city. Those who go into the Palafoxiana Library for the very first time– seeing the high, vaulted ceiling and gold-framed painting of the Virgin Mary– may believe they’ve reached a chapel. The library owes its presence to one of Puebla’s early Catholic bishops, Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, who in 1646 contributed his personal library of 5,000 volumes to a regional spiritual college– with the hope that anybody who understood how to check out would have access to them. In 1773, more than a century after Palafox’s death, the bishop of that period bought the building of a marvelous library to house the collection. The walls were fitted with 2 tiers of wood bookshelves; a 3rd tier was included the 19 th century as contributions streamed in from spiritual leaders and laypeople. There are now more than 45,000 volumes and manuscripts. The books are arranged according to concepts of scholastic approach which held that the structure of all understanding is God and factor is secondary to faith. Political Cartoons on World Leaders Political Cartoons On the very first flooring, there are more than 11,000 Bibles, spiritual files and doctrinal texts. The 2nd level is committed to the relationship in between God and individuals– narrates of spiritual orders and the lives of saints– and the 3rd consists of books on physics, mathematics, botany, language, architecture, even woodworking. In result, the general collection browses in between 2 worlds– the word of God existing together with the contributions of mankind. “Everything that was pictured at that time remains in the library,” stated Juan Fernández del Campo, the library’s existing supervisor. Amongst the library’s biggest treasures are 9 incunabula– books made
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