Noli Me Tangere
Lot 363 of the Salcedo Auctions "Connoisseur Collection" auction in September 2014. See www.salcedoauctions.com for details.
From the auction catalogue:
José Rizal
Noli Me Tangere
Berlin: Berliner Buchdruckerei-Aktiengesellschaft, 1887
First Edition
Provenance:
Acquired from a descendant of Narcisa Rizal-Lopez, elder sister of the National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal, by the present owner
The Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, completed his most famous novel about the inequities of society, and the abuses of Spanish friars and the ruling colonial government in December 1886. After completing his studies in Madrid, Rizal sought to embark upon a project that would make a contribution to his countrymen. At first, he had planned to publish a book that the Circulo-Hispano-Filipino could contribute to; but disagreements between its members meant that the project fell through. In the end, Rizal decided to set out on his own and write a novel: first in Madrid where he competed half of the manuscript, then in Paris, and finally in Germany. He called it "Noli Me Tangere" (Touch Me Not), a reference, it has been written, to the the medical term for a festering, painful cancerous sore.
The novel was written in Spanish; but as Leon Ma. Guerrero wrote, financial constraints threatened to cast the manuscript into oblivion. In the end, a friend of Rizal, Maximo Viola, came through, lending him the needed funds to print 2,000 copies.
Rizal, himself, describing the nature of the Noli Me Tangere to his friend Blumentritt, wrote, "The Novel is the first impartial and bold account of the life of the tagalogs. The Filipinos will find in it the history of the last ten years…"
The firestorm that followed the publication of Noli Me Tangere was swift, with accusations of heresy, treason, and subversion being levelled against its author. At the end of 1887, Fray Salvador Font, the cura of Tondo and chairman of the Permanent Commission of Censorship ordered that the book be banned from circulation. This was followed by a pronouncement that reading the Noli was tantamount to commiting a mortal sin. The effect, of course, was to be the reverse, with interest being piqued and copies being clandestinely distributed.
In dedicating the Noli to his countrymen, Rizal stirred up a Philippine national consciousness, leading to an awakening sense of self.
This is the first time in a decade that an extremely rare first edition Noli Me Tangere, one of the very few copies that have survived to this day, is being offered at auction.
PHP 300,000-350,000
Noli Me Tangere
Lot 363 of the Salcedo Auctions "Connoisseur Collection" auction in September 2014. See www.salcedoauctions.com for details.
From the auction catalogue:
José Rizal
Noli Me Tangere
Berlin: Berliner Buchdruckerei-Aktiengesellschaft, 1887
First Edition
Provenance:
Acquired from a descendant of Narcisa Rizal-Lopez, elder sister of the National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal, by the present owner
The Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, completed his most famous novel about the inequities of society, and the abuses of Spanish friars and the ruling colonial government in December 1886. After completing his studies in Madrid, Rizal sought to embark upon a project that would make a contribution to his countrymen. At first, he had planned to publish a book that the Circulo-Hispano-Filipino could contribute to; but disagreements between its members meant that the project fell through. In the end, Rizal decided to set out on his own and write a novel: first in Madrid where he competed half of the manuscript, then in Paris, and finally in Germany. He called it "Noli Me Tangere" (Touch Me Not), a reference, it has been written, to the the medical term for a festering, painful cancerous sore.
The novel was written in Spanish; but as Leon Ma. Guerrero wrote, financial constraints threatened to cast the manuscript into oblivion. In the end, a friend of Rizal, Maximo Viola, came through, lending him the needed funds to print 2,000 copies.
Rizal, himself, describing the nature of the Noli Me Tangere to his friend Blumentritt, wrote, "The Novel is the first impartial and bold account of the life of the tagalogs. The Filipinos will find in it the history of the last ten years…"
The firestorm that followed the publication of Noli Me Tangere was swift, with accusations of heresy, treason, and subversion being levelled against its author. At the end of 1887, Fray Salvador Font, the cura of Tondo and chairman of the Permanent Commission of Censorship ordered that the book be banned from circulation. This was followed by a pronouncement that reading the Noli was tantamount to commiting a mortal sin. The effect, of course, was to be the reverse, with interest being piqued and copies being clandestinely distributed.
In dedicating the Noli to his countrymen, Rizal stirred up a Philippine national consciousness, leading to an awakening sense of self.
This is the first time in a decade that an extremely rare first edition Noli Me Tangere, one of the very few copies that have survived to this day, is being offered at auction.
PHP 300,000-350,000