Note 16 — Chapter X · THE ATHENS OF SOUTH AMERICA
Reading edition
Although the Viceroyalty of Santa Fe was behind Mexico16 and Lima in the introduction of the printing press, it claims the honor of establishing the first astronomical observatory in America, as Mexico was the first to have a botanical garden, a school of mines, and a school of medicine. It was also among the first, if not the very first, of the capitals of the New World to open a public library.