This pioneering work is a study on the history of the book in the Philippines, with a focus on literary publishing and Tagalog literary bestsellers of the twentieth century. It spans more than four centuries of publishing, from 1593 when the first book was printed in the country to 2003 when the first nationwide survey on reading attitudes and preference was conducted. Through its case studies of twentieth-century Philippine literary forms and texts that may be referred to as the bestselling books in their time, the work both highlights and puts in wider context the publishing, manufacturing, distribution, reception, and survival of these bestsellers, and their impact on and relation to the conditions and circumstances in the culture, society, politics, and economics of the time. This study is, in a sense, an expedition. It is an initial, painstaking effort at exploring the immense terrain of the history of the book in the Philippines, with the hope that it will leave deep enough tracks for other explorers to follow.

PATRICIA MAY B. JURILLA teaches with the Department of English and Comparative Literature of the University of the Philippines Diliman. She earned her PhD on Philippine book history from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

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