Among the curios of artistic and literary cast, your bright-minded
reader, if on the alert to spy anything deserving of notice, will find
here and there in Retana's pages enshrined many a bit of out-of-the-way
information. The following half dozen or so of oddities will probably
be acknowledged, not unworthy of mention among these Philippina:
They are La Razon: A Plea Against Certain Vexatious Encroachments of
the Crown on Mexican and Manila Trade, by Jose Nuno de Villavicencio
(Sampaloc, 1737), which bears on its cover the most tasty design by
Philippine burin--a plate illustrative of the contents of the Plea,
engraved by Francisco Suarez, a Tagal artist.
El Cosmopolita--The Cosmopolitan--(Manila, 1895-1896), the first
periodical (p. 458), with phototypes, published in the islands.
The first Almanac and Guide-Book for strangers and travelers, with
a Map of the Archipelago, was issued at Manila for the year 1834.
The newspaper--El Ilocano--a bi-weekly, published in Spanish and
Ilocano at Manila (p. 464), from 1889 to 1896 (?) was the first
periodical written in Indian dialect.
Again, another periodical--El Hogar (p. 464), The Fireside--a
weekly, of 16 pages, started at Manila in 1892, under the direction
of Madam Amparo Gomez de la Serna, was the first paper devoted
to science, letters, beaux-arts, and useful information published
almost exclusively in the interests of women, while the Revista de
Filipinas (p. 132), a bi-weekly, that, starting at Manila in 1875,
lived only two years, is the worthiest of Philippine periodicals,
noticeable chiefly for the deeply scientific cast of its papers.
The Romancero Filipino, a work of fancy (Manila, 1892), by Manuel
Romero Aquino, is styled (p. 554) by Retana the neatest and best
piece of work by Philippine pen.
While The American Soldier, a four-page daily newspaper, whereof
the opening number is dated Manila, September 10, 1898, is the
first periodical, maybe print of any sort, in the English language,
published in the islands.
With the foregoing extravaganzas of literature we note that the series
of Philippine periodicals, which in Retana's own collection number
(he says) one hundred and twelve, in their entirety do not surpass
one hundred and sixty. Of his own he gives the titles (Biblioteca,
xxiii-xxviii) from Del Superior Gobierno, the first newspaper issued
in the islands, with the imprint of Manila, August 8, 1811, down to
the latest--The Kon Leche (Tea and Milk)--a four-page weekly satirical
periodical, with illustrations (in two colors), published at Manila
in 1898.
The oldest piece of what we may style distinctively Philippine
literature, whereof, moreover, only one copy is believed to be extant,
albeit printed abroad in Europe, is an Account of Legazpi's Expedition
from Mexico to Cebu in 1565, sent from Seville to one Miguel Salvador,
of Valencia, and printed one year later at Barcelona. This Copia--thus
entitled in Retana--heads his list of Philippina, a study of which,
with the supplement (p. 505 et seq.), discloses the fact that of
the books that head his Biblioteca, the first nineteen were printed
abroad--eighteen in Europe; that is, nine in Spain, at Barcelona,
Madrid, Burgos, Valencia and Seville; seven in Italy, at Rome, Genoa
and Venice; one each in France, at Paris, and in Flanders, at Antwerp
("Amberes" in the Spanish), where a Mendoza's History of China was
printed in 1596, by Bellero; and the nineteenth in Mexico.
The first fruit itself of the Philippine press--thus styled by Retana,
though mistakenly, we judge--was the Spanish-Japanese Dictionary of
1630, on which I will make some remarks when treating of the early
Philippine press.
Moreover, it is noticeable that of these earliest Philippina not one of
them treats distinctively of religious matters, but--with the exception
of two, Fragoso's and Acosta's Botanies, or works on Eastern flora--are
wholly historical in character, embracing, as they do, along with the
Copia of 1566, eleven editions of the still estimable history of China
and other Asiatic lands, by the Augustinian traveler, Juan Gonzalez
de Mendoza, whereof the Roman edition (by Vincenzo Acolti in 1585)
gives plates illustrative of Chinese typographical symbols--the first
shown to Europeans. Of this history, it may be observed, thirty-eight
editions have appeared in all--in Latin, Spanish, Italian, French,
German, Dutch, and English. Among these early Philippina--to continue
our analysis--is a history of that archipelago, by the Franciscan
chronicler, Marcelo de Ribadeneyra; a report on the same islands, by
the Jesuit scholar, Pedro Chirino--the first work of its kind published
in Europe (Rome, 1604), with diagrams of Philippine characters--signs,
namely, employed by the natives in writing, whereof, says Retana,
"a miserable edition" was printed at Manila in 1890. Then follow
other works, among them a story of the conquest of the Moluccas, one
of the sixteenth century names of the Philippines, a work of utmost
value to the historical writer, composed by the presbyter, Bartolome
Leonardo de Argensola (Madrid, 1609); then a trustworthy account of
the triumph of Spanish arms in the Philippines, by Antonio de Morga,
auditor-general of the crown in those colonies, printed in Mexico in
1609; and lastly the report of Governor Francisco Guzman de Tello,
eleventh captain-general of those islands (Seville, 1598?).
The two merely scientific works, alluded to ahead, are "Discourses on
Aromatic Things--Plants, Fruit, and the like simple Medicines employed
in the East Indies," composed by Juan Fragoso, a rare and curious work
(Madrid, 1572); and a Treatise on the Drugs and Medicines used in the
East Indies, with plates representing various plants, by Cristobal
Acosta, published first in Spanish at Burgos in 1578; in Latin (in
two editions) in 1582 and 1593; in French (also in two editions)
in 1602 and 1619; lastly in English in 1604.