It is easy when a prisoner has been arrested and brought to the dock to
give details of his complexion, height, characteristics and identifying
marks, to fingerprint him and to photograph him, but how inadequate
was the description before his capture, how frequently did false scents
draw the pursuer off the right track! It is with this in mind that we
examine the subject of this investigation, remembering that it has not
been done before in detail. And, to complete the case, the book has
been photographed in its entirety and its facsimile herewith published.

In studying the Doctrina Christiana of 1593 there are four general
problems which we shall discuss. First, we shall give a physical
description of the book. Secondly, we shall trace chronologically the
bibliographical history of the Doctrina, that is, we shall record the
available evidence which shows that it was the first book printed in
the Philippines, and weigh the testimonies which state or imply to
the contrary. Thirdly, we shall try to establish the authorship of
the text, and lastly, we shall discuss the actual printing.

It hardly needs be told why so few of the incunabula of the Philippines
have survived. The paper on which they were printed was one of the most
destructible papers ever used in book production. The native worms and
insects thrived on it, and the heat and dampness took their slower but
equally certain toll. Add to these enemies the acts of providence of
which the Philippines have received more than their share--earthquake,
fire and flood--and the man-made devastations of war, combined with the
fact that there was no systematic attempt made in the Philippines to
preserve in archives and libraries the records of the past, and it
can well be understood why a scant handful of cradle-books have been
preserved. The two fires of 1603 alone, which burned the Dominican
convent in Manila to the ground and consumed the whole of Binondo just