xylographic

"A-- That the Doctrinas of 1593, though printed at Manila, were not executed in type, but by the so-called xylographic method;

Doctrina Christiana The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. Anonymous 1951

These books, printed in the usual Chinese method from wood-blocks, could have provided models for the Spaniards in the Philippines who lacked European facilities for printing, and they may have given birth to the idea which resulted in the xylographic Doctrinas.

Doctrina Christiana The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. Anonymous 1951

The volume is printed throughout by the xylographic method, that is to say, each page of text is printed from one wood-block which was carved by hand.

Doctrina Christiana The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. Anonymous 1951

Santiago de Vela [43] suggests the possibility that there might have been a xylographic _Arte_ of

Doctrina Christiana The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. Anonymous 1951

The only possibility is that between 1593 and 1599 Villanueva had printed some small xylographic books no copies and no further record of which have appeared.

Doctrina Christiana The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. Anonymous 1951

We have then a book, the Doctrina Christiana, in Spanish and Tagalog, corrected by priests of more than one order -- and this is important in tracing the authorship of the work -- and printed by the xylographic method with license at Manila at the Dominican Church of San Gabriel in 1593.

Doctrina Christiana The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. Anonymous 1951

Mitigating somewhat his assurance, he speaks following the above-quoted passage of printing in China, and differentiates between xylographic and typographic printing, and since he was obviously thinking in terms of printing on a press with movable type his conclusions are not too extreme.

Doctrina Christiana The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. Anonymous 1951

Juan de Vera tried xylographic printing under the supervision of

Doctrina Christiana The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. Anonymous 1951

It is not difficult to say with the book itself in front of us, that it is an example of xylographic printing, but it was a great feat on the part of Retana, who had never seen a copy, to resolve apparently irreconcilable differences of opinion on the part of several unquestioned authorities by deducing that it was all a matter of semantics -- what did _printing_ mean?

Doctrina Christiana The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. Anonymous 1951

That there were Chinese xylographic models upon which the books could be based is evidenced by the account of Mendoza of the considerable number of

Doctrina Christiana The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. Anonymous 1951