Books Related to the Philippines on PGUS

The following list of works are available on the original Project Gutenberg site in the US. Books are in English unless marked otherwise.

Warning: some of the books in this section are very large, and may take a long time to download, especially over a slow connection.

Rizaliana | Religion | Literature | Travelogues | History | Folklore | Anthropology | Geography | Linguistics

Rizaliana

José Rizal did a lot to educate the Filipino. To honor this effort, we place the books he wrote, and those he re-published first. Also included here is a comprehensive illustrated biography.

• El Consejo de los Dioses, José Rizal. [Spanish]
  Alegoría en la cual los dioses de la mitología griega tratan de escoger al mejor escritor, que recibirá los regalos que Júpiter ha preparado.
  Allegorical drama in which the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology try to choose the best writers who will receive the gifts Jupiter has prepared.
• Filipinas dentro de Cien Años (Estudio Político-Social), José Rizal. [Spanish]
  Rizal trata de anticipar el estado político y social en el que se encontrará Filipinas al cabo de cien años, basándose en los cambios que han tenido lugar en el país hasta el momento de escribir su ensayo.
  Rizal anticipates the political and social state that the Philippines will face in a hundred years. His basis were the changes that have taken place in the country up to the moment he wrote the essay in the September 1889 to January 1890 issues of La Solidaridad.
• The Indolence of the Filipino, José Rizal, 1913.
  A small book, published first in five installments in La Solidaridad in Madrid in 1890, under the title La Indolencia de los Filipinos, with some sharp observations on the impact colonial rule has on the attitude of the Filipino people. English translation by Charles E. Derbyshire. (127 kB)
• Junto al Pasig, José Rizal. [Spanish]
  Drama en verso, en el que el personaje central, Leónides, ha de luchar y escoger entre el bien y el mal, representado éste por el personaje de Satán.
  Verse Drama in which the main character, Leónides, has to choose between good and evil because he is tempted by Satan.
• The Social Cancer (Noli me Tangere), José Rizal, 1912.
  If you would like to read just one book on the Philippines, read this one. Although written over a century ago, and many things have changed in those years, it is still a compelling read, and, unfortunately, surprisingly much of it can be recognized even today. Here presented in its first complete English translation by Charles E. Derbyshire. (lvii + 502 pages, 1,204 kB)
• The Reign of Greed (El Filibusterismo), José Rizal, 1912.
  The more difficult to read and harsher sequel to Noli me Tangere. Here presented is the first English translation by Charles E. Derbyshire. (796 kB)
• Lineage, Life, and Labours of José Rizal, Austin Craig, 1912.
  An excellent and well-illustrated biography of the Philippine National Hero, José Rizal, written by an American educator who had first-hand access to a lot of sources and eye-witnesses. (478 kB + 3.18 MB illustrations)
• The Philippine Islands, Antonio de Morga, 1905.
  The famous book of de Morga about the Philippines in the sixteenth century, originally published in 1609 in Mexico. This work was republished (of course in Spanish) by José Rizal to educate the Filipinos about their own, pre-hispanic civilization, and, as it was written by a Spaniard, supposedly a very unsuspected source in Rizal's days. Here are presented both volumes (Vol XV and XVI) of the translation in "The Philippine Islands 1493-1898" by Blair and Robertson. (1,038 kB)

Religion

For most of the three-hunderd years of Spanish reign, much of the Philippines was de-facto ruled by friars. As a result, the Roman Catholic faith was firmly rooted in the islands. Not surprizingly, the bulk of surviving books are of a religious nature.

• Doctrina Christiana: The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593, Wolf 2nd, Edwin (1911-).
  The history and a facsimile of the oldest surviving book printed in the Philippines, in 1593, over 400 years ago.

Literature

Due to its history, Philippine literature is often written in Spanish, until the roughtly the nineteen-thirties, when English had displaced Spanish as the language of the elite. Besides in Spanish and English, works also appeared in Tagalog and several other Philippine languages.

• Florante, Francisco Balagtas (1788-1862), Epifanio de los Santos (1871-1928) [Translator]. [Tagalog and Spanish]
  Drama en verso. Quizás la obra más conocida de la literatura tagalog, cuenta con tono épico los amores de Florante y Laura. Presenta en esta versión un ensayo crítico sobre la obra.
  Verse drama. This is probably the best well-known work of Tagalog literature; it tells, in epic tones, the love of Forante and Laura. This version of the poem has a critical essay by the translator Epifanio de los Santos.
• Ang Mananayaw, Rosauro Almario (1886-1933). [Tagalog]
  A young man is tempted into love by a clubhouse dancer but is she just using him for his money? Find out in this love story written in 1910.
• Parnaso Filipino: Antología de Poetas del Archipiélago Magallanico, Eduardo Martín de La Cámara [Spanish].
  An anthology of Philippine poetry.
• Patnubay nang Cabataan ó Talinhagang Buhay ni Eliseo at ni Hortensio, Joaquin Tuason (1843-1908). [Tagalog]
  Iba't ibang kuwento tungkol sa magandang asal ang naisulat noong panahon ng pananakop ng Kastila sa Pilipinas. Ang mga kuwentong ito kagaya ng Eliseo at ni Hortensio ay ginamit rin upang ipalaganap ang relihiyong Kristiyano.
  Ang Eliseo at Hortensio ay binabasa na parang isang kanta sa pamamahay nila Jose Rizal. Naalala ni Jose Rizal ang isa sa mga bumubuong tauhan sa kuwentong ito at isinulat niya ito sa pamilya niya habang siya ay nasa Heidelburg sa Alemania. Ang librong ito ay isang Patnubay nang Cabataan kaya mas binigyan ng importansiya ang pagpapahiwatig ng tamang asal kaysa sa ganda ng kuwento.
  During the Philippine-Spanish colonial period various kinds of prose narratives were written to prescribe proper decorum. These prose narratives like "Eliseo at ni Hortensio" were also used for proselytization of the Christian faith.
  "Eliseo at Hortensio" was read as it was sung in the Jose Rizal household. Jose Rizal remembered a character in this story while he was in Heidelburg, Germany and wrote about it to his family. This book is in the form of an "Exemplum" or "Code of Conduct" (Patnubay nang Cabataan), so it is more concerned with morals than the story.
• Cinematografo, Jose Maria Rivera [Tagalog]
  Marami ang naaliw sa paglaganap ng cinema noon panahong 1920s. Dito sinulat ni Jose Maria Rivera ang kangyang obra na isang nakakatuwang dulang nagpapakita ng mga iba't ibang tao sa lipunan na mahilig manood ng cine.
  Moving pictures were captivating audiences all over the world in the 1920s and in the midst of this love affair with movies, Jose Maria Rivera wrote this hilarious play depicting memorable characters in a Filipino society who loves to be entertained by cinema.

Travelogues

How was it to travel the Philippines before the advent of the car, the airplane and the fast-craft? Read all about it in a number of travelogues.

• The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes, Austin Craig [Editor], 1912.
  A compilation of a number of foreign reports on the Philippines of the 19th century, including the well-known Travels in the Philippines by Fedor Jagor. An excellent read. (1,513 kB)
• The Head Hunters of Northern Luzon: From Ifugao to Kalinga: A Ride Through the Mountains of Northern Luzon, Cornélis de Witt Willcox, Kansas City, 1912.
  Ever wished to cross the highlands of Luzon on horseback? Here is the description of somebody who did just that during the early years of the American era.
• Een reis naar de Philippijnen, Joseph Montano (1844-), 1879. [Dutch]
  A French researcher travelling through the Philippines and what is now Malaysia in 1879. In Dutch, but even if you can't understand that language, this text is still enjoyable for the very nice woodcarvings. Taken from the 1886 volume of a Dutch travel magazine called "De Aarde en haar volken." (The Earth and her Peoples)
• Viajes por Filipinas: De Manila á Marianas, Juan Álvarez Guerra, Madrid, 1887. [Spanish]
• Viajes por Filipinas: De Manila á Albay, Juan Álvarez Guerra, Madrid, 1887. [Spanish]
• Viajes por Filipinas: De Manila á Tayabas, Juan Álvarez Guerra, Madrid, 1887. [Spanish]
  A Spanish traveller describing his trips (three interesting volumes in Spanish)
• Wanderings among South Sea Savages and in Borneo and the Philippines, H. Wilfrid Walker, London, 1909.
  A bird collectors travels in S.E. Asia....

History

One great thing about history books is that there subject matter doesn't change anymore, so they should never out-date. Well, they do, but reading the opinions of by-gone eras is just as interesting as the history itself, indeed, the books are part of history! In this section we present a number of works dealing with history, often as seen through contemporary eyes.

• Mabini's Decalogue for Filipinos, Apolinario Mabini (1864-1903).
• The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Emma Helen Blair (-1911) and James Alexander Robertson (1873-1939)
  This is a massive 55-volume work on Philippine history. It mainly consists of annotated translations of early primary sources. Covers everything from the first contacts with Ferdinand Magellan until the end of the Spanish era. The volumes will be added to this web site one by one.
  • Volume I, 1493-1529 (Papal bulls dividing world between Spanish and Portuguese; Life of Magalhães; Chronological Tables)
  • Volume II, 1521-1569 (Expeditions of García de Loaisa 1525–26, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos 1541–46, amd Miguel Lopez de Legazpi 1564–68)
  • Volume III, 1569-1576 (Various letters between Legazpi and King Felipe II)
  • Volume IV, 1576-1582 (Relation of the Filipinas Islands, Erection of the Cathedral of Manila, Foundation of Monasteries, Expeditions to Borneo, Jolo, and Mindanao)
  • Volume V, 1582-1583
  • Volume VI, 1583-1588 (Foundation of the Audiencia of Manila; History of the Great Kingdom of China; various letters)
  • Volume VII, 1588-1591 (Numerous letters)
  • Volume VIII, 1591-1593 (Various letters and accounts; Ordinance forbidding the Indians to wear Chinese stuffs.)
  • Volume IX, 1593-1597 (The embassy to Japan; Letter to the king of Camboja; Pacification of Mindanao; various letters)
  • Volume X, 1597-1599 (Numerous letters)
  • Volume XI, 1599-1602 (Oliver van Noordt's attack on Luzón; Battles with the Dutch; Jesuit report on Christianization (including Bohol))
  • Volume XII, 1601-1604 (Expedition reports; various letters; start of Chirino's very interesting Relacion de las Islas Filipinas; includes some sections on early Bohol history.)
  • Volume XIII, 1604-1605 (Continuation of Chirino's Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, several letters.)
  • Volume XIV, 1605-1609
  • Volume XV, 1609 (Antonio de Morga's History of the Philippine Islands.)
  • Volume XVI, 1609 (Second part of Antonio de Morga's History of the Philippine Islands, followed by excerpts from de Argensola's Conqvista de las Islas Malvcas.)
  • Volume XVII, 1609-1616
  • Volume XVIII, 1617-1620
  • Volume XIX, 1620-1621
  • Volume XX, 1621-1624
  • Volume XXI, 1624
  • Volume XXII, 1625-1629
  • Volume XXIII, 1629-1630
  • Volume XXIV, 1630-1634
  • Volume XXV, 1635-1636
  • Volume XXVI, 1636
  • Volume XXVII, 1636-1637
  • Volume XXVIII, 1637-1638
  • Volume XXIX, 1638-1640
  • Volume XXX, 1640
  • Volume XXXI, 1640
  • Volume XXXII, 1640
  • Volume XXXIII, 1519-1522
  • Volume XXXIV, 1519-1522; 1280-1605
  • Volume XXXV, 1640-1649
  • Volume XXXVI, 1649-1666
  • Volume XXXVII, 1669-1676
  • Volume XXXVIII, 1674-1683
  • Volume XXXIX, 1683-1690
  • Volume XL, 1690-1691
  • Volume XLI, 1691-1700
  • Volume XLII, 1670-1700
  • Volume XLIII, 1670-1700
  • Volume XLIV, 1700-1736
  • Volume XLV, 1736
  • Volume XLVI, 1721-1739
  • Volume XLVII, 1728-1759
  • Volume XLVIII, 1751-1765
  • Volume XLIX, 1762-1765
  • Volume L, 1764-1800
  • Volume LI, 1801-1840
  • Volume LII, 1841-1898
  • Volume LIII, Bibliography
  • Volume LIV, Index, A-I
  • Volume LV, Index, J-Z
• The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 1 of 2), Dean C. Worcester
  An extensive work on the first years of the American occupation of the Philippines, by one of the key American officials of the time. Naturally with a very strong pro-American point of view. Many source documents are quoted here, so this is an excellent source of material for students of the period.
• The Story of the Philippines and Our New Possessions, Including the Ladrones, Hawaii, Cuba and Porto Rico: The Eldorado of the Orient, Murat Halstead, Chicago, 1898.
  A journalist's collection of articles on the Philippines and other possessions of the US, written in a typical journalistic style.
• True Version of the Philippine Revolution, Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (1869-1964), Tarlak, 1899.
  To compensate for the American bias in the previous work, we also present the Philippine side of the story...
• Ang Tunay na Buhay ni P. Dr. Jose Burgos, Honorio Lopez [Tagalog]
  The True Story of Father Dr. Jose Burgos, one of the Filipino priests executed in Bagumbayan on February 28, 1872.

Folklore

Folk-tales give a great impression of a peoples ideas and beliefs. The Philippines are special, as here have mixed western and eastern influences to form its own, unique, blend. Sometimes ancient tales, that date back to classical times, have reached the Philippines both going west via Spain and Mexico and going east via India.

• Alamat ng Ilang-Ilang, Jose N. Sevilla [Tagalog]
  The legend of the ilang-ilang flower and other stories and poems, first published in 1908.
• Filipino Popular Tales, Dean S. Fansler, 1921.
  A large collection of Filipino popular tales, complete with notes tracing the story's relationship with stories from other countries, and how the stories might have found their way to the Philippines. Still an important source for many folk-stories re-published today! (445 pages, 1,323 kB)
• A Little Book of Filipino Riddles, Frederick Starr (1858-1933)
  A nice collection of riddles, which makes a good complement to our very own collection of riddles.
• Philippine Folklore Stories, John Miller, 1904.
  A small collection of Philippine folklore stories, retold for children. (104 kB)
• Philippine Folk Tales, Mabel Cole (Cook), Chicago, 1916
  A nice collection of Philippine Folk Tales; many of these collected by the author's husband, who wrote a large study on the Tinguian (see below).
• Philippine Myths and Folk-Tales, Laura Watson Benedict, Fletcher Gardner, Berton L. Maxfield, W. H. Millington
  These folk-lore stories from various parts of the Philippines have been collected from a number of issues of the Journal of American Folk-Lore.

Anthropology

The study of Philippine anthropology was only taken up seriously after the American conquest of the Islands. A number of important works appeared in the early years of the American era.

• The Bontoc Igorot, Albert Ernest Jenks, Manila, 1905.
  A description of the Igorot people from the Bontoc area in Luzon. Written almost a hundred years ago. Includes over 150 photographs of the time. (250 pages, 853 kB + 8.35 MB illustrations)
• Negritos of Zambales, William Reed, Manila, 1905.
  A description of the Negrito people from the province of Zambales, Luzon. Written almost a hundred years ago. Includes over 60 photographs of the time. (82 pages, 276 kB + 2.64 MB illustrations)
• Traditions of the Tinguian: a Study in Philippine Folk-Lore, Fay-Cooper Cole (1881-1961), Chicago, 1915.
  An large collection of Tinguian folklore.
• The Tinguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe, Fay-Cooper Cole (1881-1961), Chicago, 1922.
  An extensive study of the Tinguian tribe at the beginning of the 20th century, with many wonderful photographs.

Geography

• Mindanao: Su Historia y Geografía, Aguilar, José Nieto. [Spanish]
  A description of the island of Mindanao.

Linguistics

• Consideraciones Sobre el Origen del Nombre de los Números en Tagalog, Pardo de Tavera. [Spanish]
  Ensayo acerca de las raíces lingüísticas que han dado las formas con las que se designa a los números en tagalog.
  Essay on the linguistic sources and development of the Tagalog number names.
• Contribución para el Estudio de los Antiguos Alfabetos Filipinos, Pardo de Tavera. [Spanish]
  Ensayo que sienta las bases para el estudio comparativo de los alfabetos usados en los distintos idiomas que se hablan en Filipinas.
  Essay on the Philippine alphabets, their differences and evolution. This essay establishes the basis for a comparative study of the different languages.
• English-Bisaya Grammar in Twenty Eight Lessons, R. P. Fr. Pedro Jimenez
  A small grammar and language teaching book for Cebuano, dating back to 1904. Not really suitable for learning the modern language, as it uses the old (Spanish based) spelling of Cebuano, and approaches grammar in a very traditional, Latin-oriented fashion unsuitable for explaining the features of Cebuano.
• Etimología de los Nombres de Razas de Filipinas, Pardo de Tavera. [Spanish]
  Ensayo que busca el origen de los nombres usados para designar a las diferentes razas de Filipinas.
  Essay on the origin of the Philipine races names, establishing their etymology, similarities and differences.

Other Sources

A large number of books on the Philippines can be located on-line at The United States and its Territories . If you're looking for something special, look here first. If you have a special interest in a title, tell us, and we may be able to prepare a PGPH edition of it.

More books in Tagalog at Project Gutenberg.

For more books, visit Project Gutenberg.

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