Jean Mallat (1806-1863), a medical doctor, made three voyages to the Philippines, the first in 1838. His work, Les Philippines: Histoire, Géographie, Mœurs, Agriculture, Industrie, et Commerce des colonies Espagnoles dans l’Océanie, published by Arthus Bertrand, Paris, as three volumes (two volumes text and atlas) in 1846, rates probably the rarest of all 19th century French publications containing Philippine illustrated material.

In the opinion of T.H. Pardo de Tavera [Biblioteca Filipina],

“this is a very important work whose merit lies
not in its originality but in the method and good
order that was obviously given to the material”.

As a young man he went to Barcelona where he practised medicine. Subsequently, he was appointed Doctor at San Juan de Dios Hospital in Manila by the Spanish government. In 1844, he was named the Agent for Colonial France for the Indo-China seas. In recognition of his participation during the French possession of Basilan Island, the Emperor granted him the addition of this island’s name to his family name.

His coveted 10 hand-coloured lithographic prints of scenes and costumes in the Philippines are thus among the rarest prints one will be able to find on this topic, and – along with the 8 maps contained in the atlas album – is usually only found as a complete set at prices inaccessible to even the most dedicated collector. We are thus fortunate to have acquired these prints individually, with a good provenance, and therefore are aware that no book was destroyed but that these prints were salvaged and partly and virtually invisibly restored from a badly damaged album.

Exhibit Period: 26 January – 19 February 2006