Noli Me Tangere 1912, tl. ed. — from my Grandma’s closet
When I was a kid, I had this annoying habit of going through my family’s stuff.
We used to live in a two-storey house in the province. Since the house is big enough for us and we don’t have maids to clean the entire house, my grandparents decided to abandon the second floor. Hence, all my family’s old possessions are stored in the abandoned floor.
When my grandparents are not around, my younger brother and I usually go upstairs and go through the stuff. Most of these are old photos, old clothing, greeting cards, documents, used notebooks, books and sometimes toys. It’s an exciting thing to do specially when we segregate the useful stuff from the junk. *See, even when I was young, I already have that Batang Yagit tendencies*.
In the second floor’s living room, there used to stand an old cabinet of my Lolo’s mom. They never opened that cabinet since no one knows where the key is. My curiosity on what’s inside the cabinet urged me (and my brother) to force the cabinet open. We used a flat screw driver to break the cabinet’s lock. We were able to get a few treasures from our little adventure. I can only remember a few. One old Bingo set and a torn-out leather covered book. My younger brother was excited about the Bingo set but on the other hand, my interest was on the book that I found — a very old Tagalog edition of JPR’s Noli Me Tangere.
Torn out spine of the Noli Me Tangere
1912 Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo
1912 edition of Noli Me Tangere, Limbagan at aklatan ni I.R. Morales, Liwasang Miranda, 11-13, Kiyapo
The book says that it was printed in 1912, first edition (Unang Pagkalimbag). I’m not sure whether the “First Edition” here means that it’s the first Tagalog translated edition of the Noli Me Tangere or it’s the first edition of the translations made by Patricio Mariano.
1914 Edition of the El Filibusterismo, 2nd Edition
I would have loved to use this book when I took Rizal’s Life and Works in high school and college but I swear, I’ll bleed reading the translated texts. Though it’s already written in Tagalog, there are still A LOT of texts which are Spanish sounding (or looking — Questions start with an inverted question mark ¿ and ends with ? e.g. ¿Padre Damaso, ano iyang suot mo? ). Even if it’s in Tagalog, the words used here are very old that not even my Lola would understand.
Patricio Mariano
Noli Me Tangere Cover page
The translation was done by Patricio Mariano. He’s a novelist, poet and journalist. (circa 1910.)
Source: Patricio Mariano
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Tagged with: El Felibusterismo, El Filibusterismo, Noli Me Tangere, Noli Me Tangere Translation, Patricio Mariano, Personal, Tagalog Noli Me Tangere, Translated El Filibusterismo, Translation El Filibusterismo
Isang malaking wow.
Itago mo lang hanggang sa future ikaw nalang may kopya ng edition na yan tas paauction mo agad.
oo nakatago
pero sabi ko sa lola ko ibigay sa museum. 
wow! keep it and preserve it winston
yeah.
Keep it and protect it. I just went to a family museum here in Cebu and they also have the first version of both Noli and El Fili. It’s stored carefully. So, if I were you, preserve it. Family treasure yan.
nagdadalawang isip pa ako if i should keep it or give it to the local museum.
You can loan the book to a museum, not necessarily donate it. That book is your family’s treasure. Research on how you can preserve the book. Have it insured. That book is too important to just give it away. My 2-peso thought.
i’d consider that as an option.
CooL! Antique! Tama nga naman sabi mo, bigay na lang sa Museum.
oo. bibigay na lang sa museum.
Wow great finds Wins.
Suya ko wah.
nahan pud kag karaan nga book bry?
I don’t know how I passed my High School Filipino subjects. I never understood Noli or El Fili…
i did understand a few. and I can’t remember those few now.
(except for those i saw on tv — Bayani )
meron din kami sa bahay kaso may mga missing pages na. malaki ang value nya after 2100. Haha.
oo nga. hehehe. itatago ko to.
dapat i-benta mo ito sa national museum… ahehehehe
Wow, what a treasure bai!
I would suggest you keep it in your family. But if you wish to fulfill your promise of putting it in a museum, I suggest you sell it to a local private museum instead and use the money for something good. Hehe. =)
I’m not sure lending it to a public museum is a good idea.
whoa! astig ah! lumang luma! waaaaaaaaah! mahal na to ngayon
pwede ipa auction! hehe
Grabe…. tama c jhez.. pede pa auction… hahahaha or donate sa museum…
hahaha. pag-iisipan ko pa.