Cover pages, from left to right, of Doctrina christiana en lengua española y tagala (Christian Doctrine in Spanish and Tagalog Languages), Bian zheng jiao zhen chuan shih lu (Testimony of the True Religion), Doctrina christiana en letra y lengua China (Christian Doctrine in the Chinese Language and Letters)
From left to right: Fray Juan de Plasencia, Juan Cobo, Miguel de Benavides and Juan Cobo
Date
1593
Item Source
"From left to right:
https://www.loc.gov/item/48031307
http://www.bne.es/es/Micrositios/Exposiciones/Rizal/Exposicion/Seccion3/Obra05.html?origen=galeria
https://opac.vatlib.it/stp/detail/10299047"
Description
In the Tagalog Doctrina, we see an image of the order’s founder, St. Dominic of Guzmán, donning the black and white habit of the order with the iconographic symbol of the lily, which stands for purity, and a star, which recalls the legend that Dominic’s godmother saw a bright light on his forehead when he was baptized. A tree and some buildings can be seen behind him. An ornate border surrounds the entire scene, and underneath it is written the title of the work in Spanish. In the Chinese Doctrina, whose title page also appears in Spanish, the Dominican coat of arms is emblazoned on the center of the page. The name of the Chinese printer, Keng Yong, is written underneath it. In the Shih Lu, we see an illustration of a Dominican friar wearing the characteristic black and white garments of his order as he presents a book to a Chinese official in front of him. Except for the words Este es el principio del libro (This is the beginning of the book) scribbled on top and Tassada en quatro reales (Priced at four reales) and Juan de Cuellar signed in the lower margin, the rest of the page is written in Chinese.
