PROPERTY OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED SPANISH COLLECTOR Noli Me Tangere. Volume 1 and volume 2 Barcelona: Casa Editorial Maucci, 1907 Condition: Fair, damaged binding. The novels of Dr. Jose Rizal were printed and reprinted in Spain during the early decades of the 20th Century. This particular edition has the added value of its beautiful colored covers. Ilustrated with Annotations from R. Sempau.
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF TRINIDAD H. PARDO DE TAVERA Mi Retiro handwritten and signed by Jose Rizal himself ca. 1895 - 1896 two leaves of graph paper with four pages with handwriting enveloped addressed “Para Sr Dr Pardo, Calle Centeno, No. 7” (for Señor Doctor Pardo (de Tavera) Leaf 1: 8 1/4” x 10 1/4” (21 cm x 26 cm) Leaf 2: 8 1/4” x 10 1/4” (21 cm x 26 cm) Envelope: 4 1/2” x 5 3/4” (11 cm x 15 cm) WRITE UPRizal’s Mi Retiro His Message to the Filipino Nation by PROF. MICHAEL CHARLESTON “XIAO” BRIONES CHUA, PH.D. (CAND.) FILIPINO PUBLIC HISTORIAN Rizal moved to come home from Europe in 1892 and he knew when he arrived in Manila that he might be arrested or worse. He wrote two letters to his family and to the Filipino people to be opened after his death. He was, most of all, self-aware of his place in history and it was time to face his destiny. It is true that three days after he arrived, he organized La Liga Filipina — and he was arrested on 6 June 1892. The Spanish colonial government did not execute him, at least not yet. They had other plans. They exiled him to Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte, which literally was the edge of the world. They wanted him to be isolated and battered until he surrendered his will to the whims of the colonizers. It was putting José Rizal in prison but without bars. But prison it was, and he did what he could to give life to the town. He became a single-man NGO who introduced, as Floro Quibyen noted: progressive education, social entrepreneurship and community development. In August 1893, his mother, Doña Teodora Alonso and his sister Maria joined him to live in Dapitan. He treated her eyesight and she was observed how much busier he actually had become. As noted by historians Gregorio and Sonia Zaide, his mother “regretted that he had neglected the Muses.” Before she left to go back for Manila in February 1895, she asked and encouraged her son to write poetry again. Rizal’s Mi Retiro His Message to the Filipino Nation by PROF. MICHAEL CHARLESTON “XIAO” BRIONES CHUA, PH.D. (CAND.) FILIPINO PUBLIC HISTORIAN Faith do I have, and I believe the day will shine When the Idea shall defeat brute force as well; And after the struggle and the lingering agony A voice more eloquent and happier than my own Will then know how to utter victory’s canticle. — Jose Rizal, Excerpt from Mi Retiro, October 1895. Tranlation by Nick Joaquin But it would take some time before he could fulfill her wishes. On 22 October 1895, Rizal sent the poem Mi Retiro to his mother along with another poem, Himno a Talisay, which would become a sort of anthem for his Dapitan pupils, “Though I have no letter from you, nevertheless I write you thus, sending you the enclosed poem that I promised you. Many months have already passed but I have not been able to correct it yet on account of my numerous tasks. Besides I follow the advice of Horace to let manuscripts sleep a long time in order to correct them better later.” Some might feel that the verses are only the lengthy musings — this is Rizal’s longest poem at 24 stanzas — of a lonely man, settled but never content. What makes this deeply personal poem relevant to our country today is because the author, our National Hero, still found in his hopeless situation the courage to dream of a better Philippines. Rizal believed that the Idea — of liberty and freedom, and of the equality of all men — was the Idea that would ultimately loosen the grip of the oppressors. Leon Ma. Guerrero, who himself was an excellent writer, wrote in one of the best biographies of Rizal, The First Filipino, “The verses for his mother, entitled - Mi Retiro are some of his best.” But what makes this poem important aside from its authorship, yet again, is the discourse, that surrounds it. Virgilio Almario, National Artist for Literature and the country’s foremost poet in his own right, examined Mi Retiro in his book “Rizal: Makata.” He asks that we look beyond the oversimplification that the poem is only about acceptance and finding joy in a limiting space. He suggests that we look at how Rizal used the word Retiro to express a myriad of meanings: it meant retirement from long duty, it also meant retreat from battle, but in a religious sense, it could also mean temporary respite from the frenzied hurly burly of the city life to reflect about life. It can also mean a look back to a life well-lived, a look back at the past and a physical return to once native or beloved land. In this we find the deeper and more relevant meanings of Mi Retiro. Rizal knew the fight was not yet over — and that somehow, the wheels of history would continue to turn. It can be argued, as it is argued by Almario, that Mi Retiro is a twin sister of Rizal’s Mi Ultimo Adios. And it would be wrong, as other experts say, that in bettering Mi Retiro’s standing would need to diminish Mi Ultimo Adios. The truth is both masterpieces are complementary and can best be appreciated if taken together. They are what constitutes Rizal’s long goodbye to the nation — and together pose an important message to all of us, its citizens. Mi Ultimo Adios’s last line answers the last premise of Mi Retiro, “Morir es descansar”—to die is to repose, to retreat, to rest. Rizal had found peace in dying, because the “Idea” had been brought forth. That Idea is ultimatly the Filipino Nation — a free Filipino nation. And he faced death courageously and valiantly, like all martyrs and heroes, because all the sadness and sacrifices were all worth it. Reflecting on the poem is like joining Rizal in his Mi Retiro as we also look back at his indubitable contributions to the birth of our nation. It is the perfect touchstone for its 125th year.
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas por el Doctor Antonio de Morga; Obra Publicada en Mejico en el Año de 1609, Nuevamente Sacada a Luz y Anotada por Jose Rizal, y Precedida de un Prologo del Prof. Fernando Blumentritt (Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas by Dr. Antonio de Morga; A Work Published in Mexico in the Year 1609, Brought to Light and Annotated By Jose Rizal With a Prologue by Prof. Fernando Blumentritt.) Libreria de Garnier Hermanos, Paris, 1890 First Edition 8 3/4" x 5 1/2" (21 cm x 14 cm) depth: 1/2" (1 cm) PROVENANCE Private Collection, Manila José Rizal's edition of Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas [Events of the Philippine Islands], the early history of the Philippines that Antonio de Morga published in Mexico in 1609, is, in a few words, the best work of research from the pen of the Calamba hero. To understand the significance of this fundamental title of the Rizalian bibliography, it is necessary to understand the context of indigenous identity vindication that the Filipino ilustrados were carrying out at that time. Pedro Paterno, an uncredited pioneer in this as in so many other things, had printed in Madrid a few years earlier an ethnohistorical essay with the eloquent title: La antigua civilización tagalog [The ancient Tagalog civilization] (1887). Paterno's thesis was that Tagalog was one of the great civilizations of Asia, and that traces of that greatness were also evident in the Filipinos during his years. Pardo de Tavera, who was always moved by a more scientific approach, published two linguistic studies in Europe's most prestigious journals that implicitly stressed a vindication of the Filipino identity through the Tagalog language: Contribución para el estudio de los antiguos alfabetos filipinos [Contribution to the study of ancient Filipino alphabets] (Lausanne, 1884) and El sánscrito en la lengua tagala [Sanscrit in Tagalog language] (Paris, 1887). In 1887 Pardo de Tavera got a copy of Juan de Plasencia's manuscript on the ancient customs and rules of the Tagalogs, which he only published with annotations in 1892. With the same purpose, though in a more didactic and pragmatic spirit, Isabelo de los Reyes launched the bi-monthly journal El Ilocano in 1889. Thus, Rizal's intention in publishing the magnum opus of the Andalusian oidor of the Audiencia of Manila was in accord with that of the best-educated intellectuals in the Philippines during those years. What perhaps set Rizal apart from his colleagues was undoubtedly his passion, his artistic and imaginative talent and, of course, his ambition. Why did Rizal decide to transcribe, edit and annotate the long chronicle of a Spanish colonizer? Let us recall the profile of Morga's chronicle: a work written from an imperial perspective, structured around the different governors who had ruled the Philippines until then, with special emphasis on their role in the defense of Manila Bay in the battle against the Dutch. Retana has stressed that the work must have been written to clear Morga’s own name, as his attitude during the heat of battle was far from honorable, according to some witnesses. What must have caught Rizal's attention in his tireless bibliographic searches in the British Library must have been that the book was a rara avis among so many ecclesiastical chronicles: Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas is an interesting and engaging political and civil chronicle. But above all, what must have caught his attention was Chapter VIII, which contains a detailed description of Philippine cultures, nature, richness of resources, and geography during the early days of contact with the Spaniards, a description in which the natives are consistently delineated in positive terms. For example: “The people who inhabit this great island of Luzon [...] are medium in body, of a baked quince color, well built, both men and women, very black hair, little beard, good wits for whatever they put their minds to, sharp and choleric, and of good determination. They all live by their farms, labors and fishing and contracting, sailing from one island to another by sea, and from one province to another by land.” Rizal believed it was absolutely necessary that his fellow countrymen should know about this. The juiciest part of this edition are, of course, Rizal’s footnotes, which intervene frequently to contradict Morga, to explain etymologies, to deepen the understanding of matters that would not be clear enough, or even, to emphasize that certain customs were still maintained in his time, and to confront Morga's opinions with his own or with those of the Jesuit chroniclers Pedro Chirino and Francisco Colín, or the guide of the Franciscans, Buzeta and Bravo. Rizal does not behave in any case as Morga’s ally. If Morga, for example, pointed out the tendency of the natives to get drunk easily, Rizal intervenes to comment that it is a custom that fortunately was no longer familiar. In this sense, Rizal's edition of Morga constitutes a very personal work, in which his love for the Filipino people sometimes makes him lose his philological and historical objectivity, as his friend and colleague Ferdinand Blumentritt delicately reproached him in the introduction — which Rizal, with his characteristic spirit of chivalry and loyalty to his friend, included without censure. However, it is difficult to reproach Rizal for anything when the point at the time was to underline a fundamental thesis: that the inhabitants of the pre-Hispanic Philippines had a high degree of civilization and that the supposed cultural and material development obtained thanks to the arrival of the Spaniards and, above all, the friars, was not so big as believed. If there is something we can criticize about Rizal's footnotes, it is his excessive patriotism, as Isabelo de los Reyes himself pointed out to him, and which provoked an angry polemic between both of them in La Solidaridad. Historian Ambeth Ocampo, commenting on this book, concluded that "the significance of Rizal's view of Philippine history is that its influence is still felt and, taken in the context of Philippine historiography remains the key to an understanding of the reconstruction of the Philippine past as a means to forge a national identity.” José Rizal was the first Spanish speaker to see the value and rarity of Morga's work —even today there are very few copies of the original 1609 edition-, and the Spanish-language reprints that have followed must be credited to his re-discovery. The battle for the legitimate aspirations of the Filipinos that had begun through his literary talent in his well-known novels, gave way with this important textual rescue to a strategy of identity and historical re-definition. Therefore, José Rizal’s edition of Morga’s chronicle constitutes at the same time a pioneer work of Philippine scholarship and an essential chapter in the history of Philippine nationalism.
i. National Heroes Commission: Letters Between Rizal and Family Members Volume Two- Book One 1876-1896 ii. Vida Y Escritos del Dr Jose Rizal Librería Manila Filatélica iii. Jose Rizal: The Reformer The Rizal Caravan, Third Year iv. Jose Rizal: The Genius by Maximo Ramos and Socorro B. Ramos First Year v, Jose Rizal: The Filipino Hero The Rizal Caravan, Fourth Year vi. To The Young Women of Malolos written by Dr. Jose Rizal vii. Hernandez, Ocampo, Ella Jose Rizal: The Leader and Patriot The Rizal Caravan, Second Year
signed by José Rizal dated Dapitan, 3 June 1896 written in Spanish one sheet, with writing on both sides pen and ink on graph paper 8 1/4 “ x 5 1/4” (21 x 13 cm) PROVENANCE From José Rizal (1861-1896) to Maria Rizal (1859-1945), from thence by descent to her only daughter Encarnacion Cruz Rizal addresses the letter to “mi muy amada madre” (my beloved mother.) He sends news of Miss Bracken who leaves for Manila for a little rest; she arrives with various gifts including pajo, coconut oil, several trays and $25 for her and for “tatay (father.)” He apologizes for not sending more because he’s “had a lot of expenses”, but will send a little more with the next letter. He adds a list that he would like to have sent to him : three sacks of rice, one of flour and one of salt, several kilos (arroba) of sugar (of which he notes he consumes much) and a “bayoncito” of coffee. Rizal assures his mother, that although he “has gotten sick again but he was cured instantly because now he “knows more about the kind of fever that runs here.” In just two more months, he would sail home to Manila on 31 July 1896 to meet his destiny.
signed by José Rizal dated Dapitan, 28 August 1895 written in Tagalog two sheets, with writing on three sides pen and ink on graph paper 8 1/4 “ x 5 1/4” (21 x 13 cm) PROVENANCE From José Rizal (1861-1896) to Maria Rizal (1859-1945), from thence by descent to her only daughter Encarnacion Cruz LITERATURE Letters of Jose Rizal to His Family (1876-1896), José Rizal with a foreword by Alejandro R. Roces, National Historical Institute, 1993. Pages 401, 402 Rizal addresses the letter to Maria Rizal and sends a prescription for a minor ailment of her son Moris. There is a sense that Rizal has resigned himself somewhat to his fate in Dapitan, perhaps helped along by the arrival of ‘Miss B’ (his affectionately formal name for Josephine Bracken) earlier that year. He writes, “If Father is coming here I wish he would buy me a velocipede (the new-fangled precursor of the bicycle.) If they will come here and can endure our situation, I would not wish to leave this place anymore and I would just engage in farming so long as they live.”
signed by José Rizal dated Dapitan, 28 August 1895 written in Tagalog one sheet, with writing on both sides pen and ink on graph paper 8 1/4 “ x 5 1/4” (21 x 13 cm) PROVENANCE From José RIzal (1861-1896) to Maria Rizal (1859-1945), from thence by descent to her only daughter Encarnacion Cruz LITERATURE Letters of Jose Rizal to His Family (1876-1896), José Rizal with a foreword by Alejando R. Roces, National Historical Institute, 1993. Pages 395 Rizal addresses the letter to Maria Rizal and thanks her for “the chocolate, sweets, and cigarettes… as well as tea that he has “already found in the box.” He sends his most famous advice to her son Moris : “Please tell Moris to speak English so that he would not forget it” — and a piece of practical wisdom to all young people of the internationalism and borderlessness of the world.
signed by José Rizal dated HongKong, 9-12-1891 written in Tagalog single sheet, writing on both sides pen and ink on lined paper 10 3/4” x 8” (27 cm x 20 cm) PROVENANCE From José Rizal (1861-1896) to Maria Rizal (1859-1945), from thence by descent to her only daughter Encarnacion Cruz LITERATURE Letters of Jose Rizal to His Family (1876-1896), José Rizal with a foreword by Alejandro R. Roces, National Historical Institute, 1993. Pages 329, 330 For an artist, anything connected, or any work done at a significant time of his life or at a time when he also produced his most beautiful masterpieces is deemed important. For our nation, José Rizal is the foremost hero of the country. His works and writings as part of the Propaganda Movement in lobbying for reforms, including his political essays, history annotations in the work of Antonio de Morga, and his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are part of the works that imagined and inspired the birth of the nation and changed our history. Yet, although most agree that his works and writings while in Europe are extremely significant as landmarks in our history, some argue that he was not able to translate his ideas into action. Many historians even suggest that Rizal does not deserve to become our National Hero because he did not even talk about being a nation in the first place, he only wanted us to become Hispanized Filipinos. Thus, he did not have a concept of a Filipino nation. But as Floro Quibuyen, author of the book A Nation Aborted: Rizal, American Hegemony, and Philippine Nationalism, correctly pointed out, Rizal had an action plan of creating the nation, albeit implicitly, in planning to organize a social group which aims to, “To unite the whole archipelago into one compact, vigorous, and homogenous body.” If they were already a body or a group. What “one body” are you going to create as you unite? It can only be the nation. And on the other aims he listed his vision for what we should be as the nation, “Mutual protection in every want and necessity; Defense against all violence and injustice; Encouragement of instruction, agriculture, and commerce; and Study and application of reforms.” He thought of organizing Filipinos in the islands itself after having some conflicts with his compatriots in Europe and realizing, as he wrote Mariano Ponce, “the battlefield is in the Philippines.” But before coming home, he stayed in Hongkong from 20 November 1891 to June 1892. There, he was able to finally establish a clinic at No. 2 Rednaxela Terrace, D’ Aguilar Street, and in a way, officially became part of what would be the “Overseas Filipino Workers Phenomenon.” This is where he wrote the Constitution of the La Liga Filipina. It was also here that Rizal was able to reunite with his family after all the pain and anxieties bought by Rizal’s patriotic ideas and the family’s subsequent eviction from their childhood home by their Dominican landlords. In the 9 December 1891 Rizal letter to his sister Maria written in Tagalog, the uncertainty is so evident you really cannot tell if he was worried, joking or asking for pity, “I have not written you for such a long time that I no longer know whether you are still alive or if you still remember me.” By that time, he was already accompanied by his father Francisco Mercado, his brother, Paciano and his brother-in-law Silvestre Ubaldo (Bestre), as all the men in the family were already being persecuted in one way or the other. He reported his father as “always cheerful, …always walking around.” In the letter, he asked Maria to kiss his mother Teodora Alonso and his other sisters Panggoy and Trinidad if she was with them. He then told them of his plan to settle and create a plan in Sandakan, North Borneo. In telling her sister to take care of their nephews and other sisters, Rizal struck a hopeful note, “They must be patient and our day will come.” Unfortunately, the plan for a Sandakan settlement did not bear fruit, but his mother and sisters were able to follow him to Hongkong and they welcomed the New Year 1892 together. Thus, his stay, and this letter, are an important part of our history. With his parents, brother and sisters with him, and with his fame as an ophthalmologist, a rare profession at the time, on the rise, one could only wonder what great reason Rizal could have to leave everything in Hongkong behind and return to the lion’s den? It seems that the establishment of the La Liga Filipina was top priority, and he deemed it extremely important. Rizal returned to the Philippines on 26 June, and immediately travelled the new Manila-Dagupan Railroad to meet friends that might help the cause. On 3 July, Rizal established the La Liga Filipina in the house of Doroteo Ongjungco. In attendance, Andres Bonifacio, who eventually founded with his friends the Kataastaasang Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Highest and Venerable Association of the Sons of the People). But his arrest, only three days after the meeting, frustrated his dream of organizing himself his concept of the nation. On 17 July, he arrived in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte, which could be considered at that time one of the farthest corners of the colony. Beyond its border is already the Sultanate of Maguindanao. The exile was meant to break his spirit. Rizal, a well-travelled Filipino, a cosmopolitan man, is now boxed within a provincial setup between a colony. Despite being “on lockdown,” Rizal tried to be productive. It is in Dapitan that he tried to crystallize his vision of the La Liga Filipina. When he wins a prize in the Manila lottery with his warden, Comandante Politico-Militar of Dapitan Don Ricardo Carnicero, he buys a piece of land he called “Talisay.” This is where he got into agriculture, engaged in organizing the Dapitanons into a cooperative, opened a clinic where the poor could come free of charge, and organized a small school for both his nephews and the local kids with attention paid to the aptitude of each child. He also engaged in civic work, using his environment as a pedagogical tool, he created a relief map of Mindanao in the town plaza. One time, Rizal realized that even though Dapitan was beside the sea, no one knew modern fishing. So, he asked her sisters to send him a fishing net, and then, he asked them to send two fishermen to Dapitan, not only to teach fishing to Dapitanons but because it can be lucrative. With this, Quibuyen said that Rizal was ahead of his time, saying that he was able to demonstrate in Dapitan three things—progressive education, social entrepreneurship, and community development. This is what he could and would have done if given a chance to be a public servant. He was a one-man NGO. But as Noel Villaroman wrote in his definitive book Dapitanon, despite his productivity, Rizal had episodes of depression, that is why he would request the authorities for some of his family to be allowed to stay with him in Dapitan. In his letter to his sister Maria on 28 August 1895, Rizal said, “If they will come here and can endure our situation, I would not wish to leave this place anymore, and I would just engage in farming as long as they live.” He reiterated his wish in his letter to Maria on 6 June 1895 and extended it to other relatives, “Please tell Sra. Lucia that she can send me her children as soon as I am settled.” There was a time when his mother, sisters and nephews stayed with him. In the letter dated 3 June 1896, two months before he left Dapitan on 3 June 1896, he wrote his mother in Spanish thanking her for her love and affection and also thanking her for the food that was sent to him. It gives us a glimpse of his relationship with and his love for his parents. Simply put, the letters show us Rizal, the Dapitanon, very human, longing for family as he went through perhaps the most important part of his life, when he attempted to socially engineer the little town to be a little more dynamic — and how he was able to accomplish many things despite his human frailties. The Hongkong and Dapitan eras in Rizal’s life must always be connected because it is in this time of his life, he tried to make it real the nation he imagined by empowering the people of a most sleepy town. We must remember Rizal and hold him dear as a reminder of the price he had to pay, with the ultimate sacrifice of his life. 11, 14 February 2022, Room 604, Citadines Metro Central Dubai / Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates Rizal addresses the letter to Maria Rizal Mercado and writes from HongKong. (Maria is the elder sister closest to his age and was believed to be his confidante in the family.) He reports that his father, brother Paciano and ‘Bestre are there and “we are well off here.” He confides their plan for the future and that is to quit the Philippines : “We have hopes of moving to Borneo to live there and engage in farming.” It seems to be a happier time but there are dark forebodings. In one paragraph, he asks Maria “to take care of our nephews and other sisters there. They must be patient and our day will come.” One of his last instructions is : “Don’t forget those letters I left with Brother Isidoro. Look for them secretly so that the priests may not know about them.” so Rizal had just published his second novel ‘El Filibusterismo’ in that same year, 1891; and he was in the crosshairs of the Spanish colonial government.
Jose Rizal (1861-1896) Sketch Book with 40 Sketches by Karl Ullmer and 2 pages by Jose Rizal the drawings by Jose Rizal is signed and dated 1886, and inscribed Der Hausvather (father of the house) and Die Hausfrau (mother of the house) 1886 5 3/4” x 8 3/4” (15 cm x 22 cm)
