ONE OF TWO OLDEST BOOKS PRINTED IN THE PHILIPPINES PRESENTED AT LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
09 JUNE 2009 WASHINGTON DC – Mr. Daniel De Simone, curator of the Rosenwald Collection of the Library of Congress’ presents the Doctrina Christiana at the Asian Reading Room following a lecture on the significance of the book and its history. In his lecture, Filipino librarian and PhD candidate at the University of Toronto Von Totanes posited that Doctrina Christiana, printed in 1593 and usually referred to as THE first book printed in the Philippines, “is actually one of two published during that year in the archipelago.” Totanes argued that the importance of the imprints “lies in the fact that they are physical reminders of the plurality of the nature and culture of the Filipino and the Philippines, and that Filipino culture is what it is today because of contact with the Chinese, the Spanish and the Americans.” The lecture was co-sponsored by the Embassy of the Philippines, Library of Congress Asian Division Friends Society and the Library of Congress Asian American Association and is part of a month-long series of activities held to commemorate the 111th anniversary of Philippine Independence. END