PH Consulate General Views Most Substantial Collection of Rizal Manuscripts in America
From left: Analu Lopez, Will Hansen, Deputy Consul General Romulo Victor Israel Jr., and Consul Ryan Gener viewing some of the Philippine manuscripts at the Newberry Library. (Chicago PCG photo)
CHICAGO 05 April 2019 – The Philippine Consulate General in Chicago viewed original Philippine manuscripts in America, including the most substantial collection of works of national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal, at the Newberry Library in Chicago on 22 March 2019
Deputy Consul General Romulo Victor Israel Jr., Consul Ryan Gener and Cultural Officer Noly Dulay were introduced to the Newberry collection by Will Hansen and Analu Lopez.
The Philippine manuscripts are part of the collection of Edward E. Ayer. According to Newberry curators Mr. Hasen and Ms. Lopez, the collection consists mainly of manuscripts previously owned by the Compañia General de Tabacos in their Barcelona library, which Mr. Ayer obtained through Madrid bookseller Pedro Vindel, and expanded subsequently through purchases and gifts.
The 430 manuscripts cover the Philippines under Spanish colonial rule, particularly government papers of the eighteenth century; five volumes of documents on Philippine history and politics, transcribed by Ventura del Arco in the Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid; religious texts, grammar books, and vocabularies in seven different Philippine languages; “corridos,” or metrical romances introduced by the Spanish, based on European fantasies and legends; an album of watercolor drawings by Damian Domingo on the native dresses of the nineteenth century; and notebooks and correspondence of Dr. Rizal.
The Rizal manuscripts are the most substantial collection of the original works of the national hero in America. Among these is “Clinica médica,” a notebook containing Dr. Rizal’s notes and sketches while studying humanities and medicine in Manila, Madrid and Berlin from 1881 to 1887. Apart from medical notes, it enumerates a list of books purchased by Rizal, and drafts of his letters.
As the Newberry website notes, “it reveals the precocious talent of a brilliant mind…and displays key leitmotifs of his life and corpus”. The notebook is the only manuscript yet to be digitized given its delicate physical state.
The Rizal collection also includes correspondence with Dr. A.B. Meyer of Dresden from Paris, Brussels and Dapitan concerning linguistic and zoological matters; an 1884 printed diary with handwritten entries when Rizal was a student of art and medicine in Madrid, on his meetings in cafés with other historical Filipino luminaries; and a first edition print of “Mi Ultimo Adios” when it was still known as “Mi Ultimo Pensamiento.”
In addition, on display for public viewing at the Newberry Library is a Philippine map designed by Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde and engraved and printed by Nicolas dela Cruz Bagay in 1734. According to the curators, its accuracy was unmatched for 70 years, and the presence of drawings of Chinese, African and western Asian people underscored the importance of the Philippines to global trading networks. END
Deputy Consul General Israel (second from left) discussing some of the manuscripts with Cultural Officer Noly Dulay (left) and Newberry Library’s Analu Lopez (third from left) and Will Hansen (right). (Chicago PCG photo)
Dr. Jose Rizal’s Clinica médica. (Chicago PCG photo)
Two of the watercolor paintings by Damian Domingo depicting native dresses in the 19th century. (Chicago PCG photo)
Fr. Pedro Velarde’s map of the Philippines (right), one of 12 prints in existence, is exhibited at the ground floor of the Newberry Library. (Chicago PCG photo)
For more information, visit www.chicagopcg.dfa.gov.ph, www.chicagopcg.com or https://www.facebook.com/PHinChicago/.