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During the initial stage of the Spanish occupation, numerous ordinances attempted to control and prohibit the introduction, trade and print of books in America. In order to influence the narrative regarding the facts of the conquest and the government of the Indians, to avoid the propagation of ideas contrary to Christian dogma, doctrinal discussions about the origin and legitimacy of the law and even the naive recreation sought in reading the deeds of knights famous for protecting the weak and oppressed. This was the case in the viceroyalty of Peru: a determined feat that required the establishment of the printing press in the City of The Kings, even though it was the center of Hispanic dominion in South America.

Metropolitan Spain was subject to censorship to prevent the spread of heretical doctrines and the same zeal reached America to the point of prohibiting the dissemination of novels of chivalry. But nothing could contain the operation of the Lima presses, recognizing that their work was essential for the organization of the Spanish state in Peru, and even for the evangelization and acculturation of native peoples.

The first printing workshop was clandestinely established in Lima when, despite royal prohibition, the Turin printer Antonio Ricardo brought his equipment from Mexico. He harrowingly passed the port authority inspection and, thanks to the protection of the Jesuits, was able to install the equipment in a large room of the Colegio Máximo de San Pablo. But everything remained immobilized while the priests interposed their auspicious instances before government officials and supported the helpless printer. Long months went by subsisting thanks to eventual orders, and he also discreetly moved his presses to reproduce prints and playing cards that he engraved. Finally, the Royal order arrived authorizing the use of the workshop to print the Pragmatic of Gregory VII on the reform of the calendar. After Antonio Ricardo's death in 1605, Francisco del Canto acquired his workshop, a native of Medina del Campo who had travelled to Peru in 1586 intending to officiate in the sale of books: he ran the workshop until his death.