Boxer Codex: A Modern Spanish Transcription and English Translation of 16th-Century Exploration Accounts of East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific

by Isaac Donoso (Transcriber and Editor), Ma. Luisa García (Translator and Annotator), Carlos Quirino (Translator and Annotator)

In 1947, Iberian colonial maritime scholar Professor Charles R. Boxer acquired a late 16th-century manuscript written by an anonymous sixteenth-century scribe who had compiled several eyewitness accounts of both Spanish and Portuguese expeditions. Through detailed descriptions and lavish illustrations, this manuscript depicted the customs, costumes, and ways of life of the various peoples of East and Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippine Islands.

In the decades since it came to light, an international constellation of scholars the world over has expanded our understanding of this valuable document and given us the clearest depiction of the lives of newly colonized Filipinos and the politics of early modern Asia. As such, Boxer Codex is indispensable in understanding both Iberian and Asian encounters at a pivotal time in world history.

Now this invaluable work is made accessible to a new generation of Filipinos and scholars with this bilingual edition, written in modern Spanish and English. It also marks the beginning of the commemoration of 500 years of Philippine-Spanish encounters from 1521 to 2021. An extensive introduction situates this work in a global context and presents the intertwined histories of academician Charles Boxer and Philippine National Artist Carlos Quirino, whose friendship ignited global interest and passionate study of the codex.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

448 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

He obtained his PhD in Islamic Studies (2011) and his master’s degree in Humanities (2003) and Hispanic Philology (2003) from the University of Alicante (Spain). He completed his Master of Arts degree in Islamic Studies at the University of the Philippines in 2008. He is soon to finish his Master in History and Sciences of the Music at the University of La Rioja (Spain). Winner in 2004 and 2008 of the research prize Ibn al-Abbar—the most important Spanish award in Islamic Studies—he was also granted the Premio Juan Andrés de Ensayo e Investigación en Ciencias Humanas for the study “Literatura hispanofilipina actual” (2010). Donoso has also published a critical edition of Noli me tangere (2011) and other prose writings of José Rizal (2012), as well as that of the legendary novel Los pájaros de fuego by Jesús Balmori (2010)—the first of their kind. He has worked as well with Jeannifer Zabala promoting Catalan Studies in the Philippines through the publication of the study Romanços Filipins del Regne de València (2008) and the translation into Filipino of the Valencian novel Tirante el Blanco (2010). He also edited the volume “More Hispanic than We Admit: Insights into Philippine Cultural History” (2008), which will soon be published as More Islamic than We Admit. A specialist in Islamic and Philippine Studies, he currently teaches at the University of Alicante in Spain.

Reviews

[Albert Balbutin Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big thanks to the folks who translated these observations, albeit the obvious biases the initial observers wrote as they interacted with the "indios."

[Filipeanut · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big thanks to the folks who translated these observations, albeit the obvious biases the initial observers wrote as they interacted with the "indios."

[waks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't read this this year (last year, actually) but I reread it every so often so I'll set it as back in January.