Contrasts between some librarians of the Royal University of Mexico during the second half of the eighteenth century

Abstract

The aim of this article is to show the profile of two librarians who worked at the Real Universidad de México [Royal University of Mexico] during the second half of the eighteenth century. To conduct this research, propositions of the history of the book and reading were taking into consideration, particularly those related to corporative/institutional libraries. The analysis of documents that belonged to the Real Universidad de México allowed to explain the behavior of the library, as well as the tasks and bonds established by the individuals who occupied the position of librarian; as a result of this, we contrasted two librarians who showed different interests in regards of the administration of the library. Finally, it is concluded that the figure of the librarian is fundamental to understand how corporative/institutional libraries work.