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 Gómez 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—Thé 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 Cebú 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 González 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, Bartolomé 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 Cristóbal 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.