‘Flora de Filipinas’

Known to Filipino bibliophiles as an oversized set of books, “Flora de Filipinas,” published in the 19th century, contains obsolete text and timeless illustrations of Philippine flowers as classified by the Augustinian botanist Manuel Blanco. It is rare to find a complete set in mint condition, which accounts for its hefty price tag. Three decades ago my father and I walked past the Amsterdam coffee houses that served marijuana, and pretended to be uninterested in the red-light district where women of all colors, shapes, sizes, and perversions were displayed in open shop windows. My father wanted to buy an old map of the Philippines, so we went to the shop of Nico Israel who had reprinted Carlos Quirino’s pioneering “Philippine Cartography.”

Israel entertained us and said he had a set of “Flora de Filipinas” in stock for $25,000. My father became nervous when I asked to see the set, and was relieved when I said with a dismissive tone, “Oh, this is the later Barcelona edition with the pretty colored lithographs. I was looking for the rarer set with black and white illustrations printed in Manila.” Israel’s eyes twinkled as he remarked: “Ah, you know your Filipiniana. Please come into my office for tea. I have a few more treasures to show you.” We walked past a workroom where Jews in skullcaps worked at tracing bibliographic leads on the books they were to place in the next catalogue. My father tugged at my coat and said in Tagalog, Let’s get out of here!

As we sipped our tea in Israel’s book-lined office, I asked to see a small 17th-century pamphlet published in Manila and inquired about its price. It was $15,000 for six pages. My father almost fell off his seat, but then Israel said: “I’m sorry, I cannot sell this to you because it was just acquired by Yale University Library this morning.” To my father’s relief, we left without buying anything.

My exchange of notes on rare Filipiniana with Nico Israel remains one of the fond memories of my first trip to Europe.

Flowers are fast disappearing from the urban landscape, but at least cut flowers from all over the world can be found in shopping malls. Flowers will brighten any home—whether they are alive in a pot, freshly cut in a vase with water, or photographed and presented on a flat one-dimensional poster. It was once fashionable to decorate walls with framed, oversized, 19th-century botanical prints. These are often torn out of illustrated books used by botanists to identify and study plants from different parts of the world. Botanical prints are plentiful in the flea markets of Europe and the United States, but for a Filipino home the best would be cannibalized plates from the famous “Flora de Filipinas.” Malacañang used to have a custom-made Noritake dinner service with selections from the books.

Although there have been a number of published studies of Philippine flora and fauna starting from the 17th century to our times, the most spectacular book to date remains “Flora de Filipinas por el Fr. Manuel Blanco, adicionada con el manuscrito inedito del P. Fr. Ignacio Mercado del P. Fr. Antonio Llanos y de un apendice con todas las nuevas investigaciones botanicas referentes al archipielago filipino gran edicion hecha a expresas de la provincia de Agustinos calzados de Filipinas P. Fr. Andres Naves.” Blanco’s work may not be the first study of Philippine flowers and plants, but it is the first extensive and fully illustrated study of Philippine flora. Furthermore, despite its title, it also contains illustrations and notes on Philippine fruits and vegetables.

The first edition of Blanco’s work was printed in 1837 and was text-heavy at 887 pages. The second edition of 1845 was likewise text-heavy, thus remaining unread outside of botanical and scientific circles. But the magnificent third edition was so big its illustrations in colored lithographs by the firm of Verdaguer in Barcelona comprised three volumes printed from 1877 to 1879. The text comprised a fourth volume and took three years, from 1880 to 1883, to see the light of day. Only 500 copies of this luxury edition were printed, though an edition of 1,000 copies with black-and-white plates was published in Manila.

Blanco’s work, like most scientific studies, was practically obsolete by the time it saw print, but “Flora de Filipinas” is an important landmark in Philippine art history because Filipino artists drew the botanical plates. Seventeen Filipino artists signed their works in the book and many of them are not very well-known today, with the exception of Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, Felix Martinez, Felix Pardo de Tavera, Miguel Zaragoza, and Lorenzo Guerrero. It must be noted that Juan Luna did not participate in the contest for the cover of the book, probably because he was kicked out or left the Manila Art Academy. Some artists made more than one plate: Cayetano Arguelles made 30; Francisco Domingo, 50; Rosendo Garcia, 60; Juan Garcia, 20; Lorenzo Guerrero, 40; and Regino Garcia, the most at 100. Isidro Llado and R.L. Salamanca were not as prolific, but at least made an impression in this landmark book.

None of the artists, Filipino or Spaniard, is mentioned or even acknowledged in the text. But all the works outlived Blanco’s text, which is now obsolete. The botanical plates by the Filipino artists continue to be appreciated to this day and their names etched in the history of Philippine art.

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