Portfolio 1
By Dr. Domingo Abella
This is a very rare, large elephant sized book that was privately printed in 1977, a limited edition of 270 printed books. It is a compilation of many maps, photographs, drawings, and paintings about the Philippines. Some subjects include… Filipinos and Filipinas, earliest Ptolomeo, Siglo II Impreso en Roma 1490 Mapa Universal de Ptolomeo to the 1785 Isole Filippine by Antonio Zattae, a 1734 Pedro Murillo Velarde map Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Islas Filipinas, old Manila, 16th century armours of native warriors, Spanish conquistadores, early costumes, churches built by the Spanish missionaries, Mindanao and Zamboanga views, engravings of Nicholas dela Cruz Bagay and much more…
From Carlos Quirino’s introduction… “several years ago, Dr. Domingo Abella, who had just been appointed Director of the National Archives, … felt that maps of the Philippines should be given wider publication in this country. He borrowed a dozen of my original maps, and with a score of his own that he had copied in his many trips around the world, he had them reprinted in Taiwan where printing costs is much less than elsewhere. The present collection is the result of his diligent interest in this phase of the past of the Philippines. He has included reproductions of costumes used by Filipinos of long ago. In this collection therefore, the development of the Islands since the age of discovery can be readily traced. It is a valuable addition to any public or private library.”
From Milagros Romualdez-Abella’s introduction (wife of Dr. Abella)… “This is a Limited Collection of Philippine maps gathered abroad during the 12 years of our search for primary sources of Philippine documents. Some reproductions are not very clear but they have been included to give the viewer an inkling of the cartography of that era. To the maps are added pictorials of costumes, official and unofficial, worn during the 18th century, buildings in Manila like Malacanang Palace, churches found in Intramuros during that period as well as views of Mindanao. This is a Limited Edition of 270 sets numbered from page 1 to 74.
