Noli Me Tangere

Noli Me Tangere

José Rizal

Manila, Tifo-Litografia de Chofre y Comp. , Escolta,

1899

First edition, Manila

 

Starting bid: P 100,000

 

Provenance: Private Collection, Madrid

 

First edition of copies printed in Manila in 1899. Manila, Tifo-Litografia de Chofre y Comp., Escolta, 1899

 

Leon Gallery presents an extremely rare first edition of Noli Me Tangere printed in Manila in 1899, probably one of the very few copies that have survived to this day, is being offered at auction.

 

The book was printed in 1899, two years after he died a martyr’s death by public execution. (Manila Tifo-Litografia de Chofre y Comp. Escolta)

 

As a backgrounder, the very first edition of Noli Me Tangere was printed outside of the Philippines, in Germany in 1887.

 

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 completed 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 medical term for a festering, painful cancerous sore.

 

Jose Rizal finished writing the novel in December 1886. At first, according to one of Rizal's biographers, Rizal feared the novel might not be printed, and that it would remain unread.

 

He was struggling with financial constraints at the time and thought it would be hard to pursue printing the novel. Financial aid came from a friend named Máximo Viola; this helped him print the book at Berliner Buchdruckerei Aktiengesellschaft in Berlin. Rizal was initially hesitant, but Viola insisted and ended up lending Rizal 300 Pesos for 2,000 copies. The printing was finished earlier than the estimated five months. Viola arrived in Berlin in December 1886, and by March 21, 1887, Rizal had sent a German printed copy of the novel to his friend, Blumentritt.’ 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 leveled 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 committing 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. The religious at that time, in particular, insisted that it was a mortal sin to possess the “Noli.” All of this adds to the rarity of this piece.

 

Lot 128 of the Leon Gallery auction on 5 December 2015. Please see www.leon-gallery.com for more details.

Done