Arte y Reglas de la Lengua Tagala

[Manila]: Imprenta Nueva de Don Jose Maria Dayot por T. Oliva, 1832. Good plus.. 919,[1]pp. Small octavo. Contemporary limp vellum, edges sprinkled red; evidence of two lost fore-edge ties. Text block sound, but beginning to loosen from binding. Light worming in lower quadrant of initial and final leaves, slightly affecting text; two small tape repairs to lower corners of title page and front free endpaper. Even tanning and occasional foxing. Only the second edition of this foundational grammar of the Tagalog language by Francisco de San José, first published in 1610. San José was a Dominican priest who arrived in the Philippines in 1595, and is considered to be the father of Tagalog grammarians. He is credited by some to have brought the first printing press onto the islands in 1602, and he is the author of the first book printed in the Philippines with movable type, a Tagalog Rosary in the same year. The 1610 first edition of the present work was only the eighth book printed the Philippines, according to Medina, and OCLC locates copies in two American institutions. The present edition is still quite rare, with only ten copies located in U.S. libraries, and no copies other than this one appearing in available sales records. A scarce and important work.
Blake 327. Leclerc 2423. Palau 292360. Retana 619. Walsh 951.