first edition Hardcover
1675 · Manila
by Philippines. Augustinians. Jésus, Diego de (1622-1697)
Manila: Collegii S. Thome Aquinitatis, 1675. FIRST EDITION. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in contemporary limp vellum (lightly worn) with remnants of the original ties; front pastedown with the bookplate of Estelle Doheny; early Mexican marca de fuego on lower edge. Printed on very fine paper, a mix of rice paper (leaves 1-160) and Chinese paper of mulberry or Taiwanese cane (preliminaries and leaves 161-216). First few leaves with marginal worm traces, occasional damp staining; a fine example, housed in a custom half morocco case. Very rare. In his 1904 catalogue, Pedro Vindel described the copy he had for sale as “very rare; probably a unique copy, not cited by any bibliographer, and of which there is not the slightest allusion in any work, not even in the Augustinian chronicles”. Only two copies are located in OCLC (National Library of Spain and Oxford. In 1945 H.P. Kraus described this work as “of extreme rarity” and “all Philippine imprints of the 17th century are excessively rare.” (“The Old and New World”, 110b)
This is the first edition of a collection of prayers for recitation by priests in preparation before, and in gratitude after, Mass in the Philippines. The manual was compiled by Diego de Jésus, later the Augustinian Provincial in the Philippines, and the book is dedicated to St. Thomas of Villanova.
The Augustinian ministry included many Indigenous priests: the first Filipino took his vows in 1590 and in 1641 they made up 20% of Augustinians in the Philippines. The College of St. Thomas and its press are still in existence, and in 1625 the college acquired a press that had molds, types, and typographical instruments manufactured in part by an Indigenous convert (please see below).
This book is printed on two kinds of paper, a mix of rice paper and Chinese paper. Until the 18th c., there was no paper manufacturing in the Philippines: “At the time of colonization there was no paper in the Philippines, the Indigenous peoples wrote on bamboo or palm leaves using an iron point for a pen. It is possible the early Filipinos never made or imported paper because they didn’t need it, with natural writing materials so readily available.” (Thomas and Thomas, “The History of Papermaking in the Philippines” 10-11)
“The paper in most of the (17th c. Filipino) books is now stiff, brittle and brownish. Chemical analysis has shown that some of the paper was made using mulberry, likely from China, and some using a species of Taiwanese cane. In 1893 this paper was described as ‘detestable, brittle, without consistency or resistance . . . as all Chinese-made paper it was coated with alum.’” (Thomas and Thomas 19)
The Press of the College of Saint Thomas Aquinas
“The press of the College of Saint Thomas traces its founding to 1593 by Fr. Francisco de San Jose. As such, it is the oldest continuing press in the world today, next to Cambridge University in England. In 1593, the Dominicans pioneered printing in the Philippines by producing through the old technique of xylography (wooden block).
“In 1602 the Dominican Blancas de San Jose, together with a Chinese convert, succeeded in making molds, types and instruments needed for typography, the conventional printing by movable type; thus, typographic printing in the Philippines was really indigenous, not imported from other countries. Wenceslao Retana hailed it as ‘the semi-invention’ of the press in the country.
“The indigenous machine made the rounds of Dominican missions on the plains of Luzon. In 1625, the press wound up at the Colegio de Santo Tomas, and has since been known as the UST Press. In 1996, the UST Press was renamed UST Publishing House, and continues to publish scholarly, religious, and literary titles.” (Fidel Villarroel “The University of Santo Tomas Publishing House”)
Diego de Jésus
“Father Cano, biographer of the Augustinians of the Philippines, limits himself to writing of Brother Diego de Jésus, who arrived in Manila in 1669, as a native of Béjar (in Spain) and of the Convent of Salamanca. He was master of novices in the convent of Salamanca and Burgos. He was appointed to the Tagalogs and was minister of Lipa in 1677, of Bulacan and Tondo. He was Visitor and Provincial in 1680. He died in the convent of Manila in 1697.” (Vindel)
Among his contemporaries, Fray Diego was known for his piety and asceticism: “All regarded Fray Diego as a mirror, and seeing him they corrected their own negligence, on account of the great virtues that shone in him. His poverty and disregard of earthly things was of heroic degree. Of many of his surpassing virtues I can be a witness. He never handled money during his term as provincial, and he possessed the virtue of charity in a very high degree. He was frequent in prayer, and so severely did he mortify the flesh that after death there were found on him the marks of the cilices of copper, even to the soles of his feet.” (Blair and Robertson, Vol. 21. “The Augustinians in the Philippines” 208-209)
The Augustinians in the Philippines
“Augustinians first reached the Philippines from Mexico in 1565, and up to 1578 were the only missionaries in the Islands. The monastery at Intramuros was designated an Augustinian novitiate in 1575, and the first Filipino to make Augustinian vows was Martin Lacandula in 1590. In 1641 there were 160 Spaniards and 38 Filipinos in the Order in the Philippines.
“Five religious orders came to the Philippines, and each one established printing presses for their own use, producing not only religious materials but also grammar books and dictionaries in local dialects, etc. There was a rapid growth of religious publications during this period and it is estimated that around 541 titles were printed.” (Augnet: The Order of St. Augustine, 4866 - Philippines)
The College of Saint Thomas Aquinas at Manila
“The University of Santo Tomas is the oldest existing university in Asia - a Dominican institution of learning founded in 1611 under the patronage of St. Thomas Aquinas. The institution was established through the initiative of Bishop Miguel de Benavides, Archbishop of Manila. In 1605, he bequeathed the amount of one thousand five hundred pesos and his personal library for the establishment of a ‘seminary-college’ to prepare young men for the priesthood. Those funds, and his personal library, became the nucleus for the start of UST and its library. The student body currently numbers 43,000, and in terms of student population, it is the largest Catholic university in the world in a single campus.” (www.ust.edu.ph/university-history). (Inventory #: 5119)
This is the first edition of a collection of prayers for recitation by priests in preparation before, and in gratitude after, Mass in the Philippines. The manual was compiled by Diego de Jésus, later the Augustinian Provincial in the Philippines, and the book is dedicated to St. Thomas of Villanova.
The Augustinian ministry included many Indigenous priests: the first Filipino took his vows in 1590 and in 1641 they made up 20% of Augustinians in the Philippines. The College of St. Thomas and its press are still in existence, and in 1625 the college acquired a press that had molds, types, and typographical instruments manufactured in part by an Indigenous convert (please see below).
This book is printed on two kinds of paper, a mix of rice paper and Chinese paper. Until the 18th c., there was no paper manufacturing in the Philippines: “At the time of colonization there was no paper in the Philippines, the Indigenous peoples wrote on bamboo or palm leaves using an iron point for a pen. It is possible the early Filipinos never made or imported paper because they didn’t need it, with natural writing materials so readily available.” (Thomas and Thomas, “The History of Papermaking in the Philippines” 10-11)
“The paper in most of the (17th c. Filipino) books is now stiff, brittle and brownish. Chemical analysis has shown that some of the paper was made using mulberry, likely from China, and some using a species of Taiwanese cane. In 1893 this paper was described as ‘detestable, brittle, without consistency or resistance . . . as all Chinese-made paper it was coated with alum.’” (Thomas and Thomas 19)
The Press of the College of Saint Thomas Aquinas
“The press of the College of Saint Thomas traces its founding to 1593 by Fr. Francisco de San Jose. As such, it is the oldest continuing press in the world today, next to Cambridge University in England. In 1593, the Dominicans pioneered printing in the Philippines by producing through the old technique of xylography (wooden block).
“In 1602 the Dominican Blancas de San Jose, together with a Chinese convert, succeeded in making molds, types and instruments needed for typography, the conventional printing by movable type; thus, typographic printing in the Philippines was really indigenous, not imported from other countries. Wenceslao Retana hailed it as ‘the semi-invention’ of the press in the country.
“The indigenous machine made the rounds of Dominican missions on the plains of Luzon. In 1625, the press wound up at the Colegio de Santo Tomas, and has since been known as the UST Press. In 1996, the UST Press was renamed UST Publishing House, and continues to publish scholarly, religious, and literary titles.” (Fidel Villarroel “The University of Santo Tomas Publishing House”)
Diego de Jésus
“Father Cano, biographer of the Augustinians of the Philippines, limits himself to writing of Brother Diego de Jésus, who arrived in Manila in 1669, as a native of Béjar (in Spain) and of the Convent of Salamanca. He was master of novices in the convent of Salamanca and Burgos. He was appointed to the Tagalogs and was minister of Lipa in 1677, of Bulacan and Tondo. He was Visitor and Provincial in 1680. He died in the convent of Manila in 1697.” (Vindel)
Among his contemporaries, Fray Diego was known for his piety and asceticism: “All regarded Fray Diego as a mirror, and seeing him they corrected their own negligence, on account of the great virtues that shone in him. His poverty and disregard of earthly things was of heroic degree. Of many of his surpassing virtues I can be a witness. He never handled money during his term as provincial, and he possessed the virtue of charity in a very high degree. He was frequent in prayer, and so severely did he mortify the flesh that after death there were found on him the marks of the cilices of copper, even to the soles of his feet.” (Blair and Robertson, Vol. 21. “The Augustinians in the Philippines” 208-209)
The Augustinians in the Philippines
“Augustinians first reached the Philippines from Mexico in 1565, and up to 1578 were the only missionaries in the Islands. The monastery at Intramuros was designated an Augustinian novitiate in 1575, and the first Filipino to make Augustinian vows was Martin Lacandula in 1590. In 1641 there were 160 Spaniards and 38 Filipinos in the Order in the Philippines.
“Five religious orders came to the Philippines, and each one established printing presses for their own use, producing not only religious materials but also grammar books and dictionaries in local dialects, etc. There was a rapid growth of religious publications during this period and it is estimated that around 541 titles were printed.” (Augnet: The Order of St. Augustine, 4866 - Philippines)
The College of Saint Thomas Aquinas at Manila
“The University of Santo Tomas is the oldest existing university in Asia - a Dominican institution of learning founded in 1611 under the patronage of St. Thomas Aquinas. The institution was established through the initiative of Bishop Miguel de Benavides, Archbishop of Manila. In 1605, he bequeathed the amount of one thousand five hundred pesos and his personal library for the establishment of a ‘seminary-college’ to prepare young men for the priesthood. Those funds, and his personal library, became the nucleus for the start of UST and its library. The student body currently numbers 43,000, and in terms of student population, it is the largest Catholic university in the world in a single campus.” (www.ust.edu.ph/university-history). (Inventory #: 5119)
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