This volume, published by The Newberry Library in Chicago, is a classified checklist detailing printed materials from its extensive Filipiniana collection, covering the history of the Philippine Islands from 1519 to 1900, thus spanning the pre-Spanish and Spanish colonial periods. The core of this collection originates from the Edward E. Ayer Collection. Ayer, a major collector of Americana, began acquiring Philippine materials immediately following Admiral Dewey's victory at Manila Bay in 1898, recognizing the United States' new historical relationship with the people of the islands. The collection was consistently augmented, and this catalogue lists nearly 1,900 titles, focusing heavily on history and ethnology. Some items within the collection are documented as being of such excessive rarity that they are the unique copies held in the United States. Along with the Library of Congress, The Newberry Library is considered to have the richest collections of Filipiniana in the United States. Following the massive destruction of archives and libraries in the Philippines during the Second World War, the books and manuscripts documented in this bibliography became significantly more valuable, confirming the collection’s standing as a vital resource for scholars.
A catalogue of printed materials relating to the Philippine Islands, 1519-1900, in The Newberry Library