A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of joining a media tour at the exhibit “Pen, Paper and Bookmaking: The Life of Carlos Quirino” at the Yuchengco Museum.
Carlos Quirino, National Artist for Historical Literature, is a writer, scholar, sportsman, and bibliophile who made invaluable contributions to the study of Philippine history.
2010 marks Quirino’s birth centennial, and in celebration of this auspicious event, three erstwhile out of print Carlos Quirino books are lined up for release by the Vibal Foundation: Philippine Cartography, Old Manila, and Filipinos at War.
First out is the third edition Philippine Cartography, a landmark history of Philippine maps and their cartographers, considered as Quirino’s magnum opus. First published in 1959, the book traces the evolution of the Philippine map, from a speck in the Pacific Ocean to its current iconography.
When I went to Singapore last October, I specifically targeted getting a copy of the Usborne Puzzle Adventure Omnibus, a book compilation I’d lost when I was in grade school. I was hoping to find one at one of the bookstore chains there, as my cousin Dianne found a copy for herself in Hong Kong, and I was determined to get one too.
