| En el Partido de Bataan | galo, Año de 1610. |
Substantially the aforesaid title means that the book—a Tagal grammar—was composed by Father Francisco de S. Joseph (whose family-name (as otherwise known) was Blancas), of the Dominican Order, preacher-general of his province of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Philippines, and printed at Bataan, A.D. 1610.[2]
In one of his Appendices to Zúñiga,[3] Retana affirms that the printer of this Arte was the Tagal Tomás Pinpin.
Why, then, with this sample of early Philippine typography before his eyes, presumably yet extant on the shelves of the Museo de Ultramar, Retana (whose interesting description of Blancas’ Arte of 1610 will shortly follow) should have deemed it right to omit all mention of it in his latest bibliography, wherein, so far as I can read, there is not the slightest reference to it, seems truly a literary conundrum—one that, for me at least, baffles all power of solution.
However, accepting facts in the world of letters, as in the objective universe of God’s creation, as they stand, as we see them and know them, with the guidance of Retana himself, we now proceed (as promised) to a description of this Tagal grammar, the earliest specimen of Philippine typography known at least to be extant.
Blancas’ Arte is a book printed on rice paper—papel de arroz—with a preface of sixteen unnumbered pages and three hundred and eleven (of text) numbered, that is, three hundred and twenty-seven in all, yet in one instance wrongly paged, since the observant eye of our bibliographer has detected that what really is page 157 in the Arte has been printed “156,” the body of the grammar thus comprising, not 311 pages, as the printer has made it, but in reality 312.
On the verso of the title (that is, page 2) are given various licenses to print, issued among other officials by Miguel Ruiz of Binondoc (an old form apparently for the town now known as Binondo), this permit being dated February 6, 1609. Then follow the licenses of Father Blancas’ own provincial superior, dated Manila, June 3, and another official’s, whose name (Retana says) is missing by reason of the page having been torn, dated from Quiapo, on (month too wanting) 24, of the same year—1609—with the former.
On the third page, with the date July 28, 1609, we read the names of several Manila church-officers, eight in all, licensing Father Blancas’ Arte, among them the dean of the cathedral-chapter of Manila, the archdeacon Arellano, and Pedro de Rojas, who, as secretary apparently of that body, adds his attestation to the chapter-action above.
From pages 4 to part of 7 is a Tagal Hymn to the Holy Virgin, Mother of Our Lord; then following the finale of this hymn, a prayer to God, Almighty Giver of all intellectual light, for power to be granted His servants to learn of His wisdom and ability to tell it to the Tagals.
Then, following some ancient Tagal characters, comes the grammar in chief, which has been printed (as is obvious)[4] from type, bearing distinct marks of use. Wherefore, since we have now concluded Retana’s description of this Arte, we, in turn, may observe—the inference seems lawful—that our Bataan press of 1610 had been at work before that year, and Father Blancas’ Arte is not the earliest Philippine imprint.