Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 2346

BLANCO, MANUEL (1779-1845). Flora de Filipinas, Segun el Sistema sexual de Linneo. Manila: Santo Tomas, 1837. 1st edition lxxvii, 887 pages; 21 cm.

Father Manuel Blanco (1778-1845) was a Spanish Augustinian priest based in Manila. Spending the last 40 years of his life in the Philippines, Blanco collected and described plant specimens throughout his time as a missionary. Though his work lacks a scientific tone, Blanco’s materia medica on Philippine botany was the first comprehensive study on the topic. Blanco himself says in the prologue: “[this treatise on plants] will at least serve to give a limited knowledge of the great botanical wealth of this fertile and pleasant country, and at the same time stimulate others to proceed with the work.” As the title suggests, Blanco based the taxonomy upon the principles of physician and botanist, Carl Von Linné (1707-1778). Though later editions are known for their detailed botanical illustrations by Filipino artists, the first two editions were published without illustrations. Flora de Filipinas simple binding does include an interesting feature: the many watermarks present in the leaves. No less than 9 unique watermarks are visible, with many (but not all) attributable to individual papermakers.

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