{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":41319,"auction_id":70,"set_id":98,"lot_number":"49","artist":"Sir John Bowring","title":"A visit to The Philippine Islands.","starting_price":9000,"signed_dated":"London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1859.","medium":null,"size":null,"property":null,"coa":"CONDITION REPORT: \nFAIR TO POOR. DETACHED FRONT PART OF THE HARDCOVER, WHICH \nAFFECTS THE FIRST 48 PAGES. COPY SIGNED BY BENITO LEGARDA IN \n1954. FOXY PAGES.","provenance":null,"exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"John Bowring (1792-1892) in all was one of the most interesting characters of the British Empire. In his youth he was a fervent advocate of economic liberalism. As a member of the British Parliament, he participated in several governmental commissions. A lover of literature and languages, he knew a multitude of languages and made translations from French, Russian, German, Spanish, Serbian, Hungarian and Dutch, among others. In 1849 he was appointed British consul in Guanzhou and encountered numerous problems when he tried to eradicate corruption. He also criticized China’s failure to abide by the Treaty of Nanking after the end of the First Opium War (1842). He was appointed Governor of Hong Kong in 1854. He carried out numerous liberal and progressive reforms that met with much opposition. Bowring and his wife were poisoned with arsenic, and his wife died. To get away from Hong Kong, Bowring boarded the frigate Magicienne on November 29, 1858, and sailed for Manila. He remained in the Philippines for seven weeks. Consequence of this brief stay is this well-known book, which was printed in the second half of 1859. Although the book is proposed as a modest attempt to understand and make known the Philippines among his compatriots, the truth is that A visit to the Philippines Islands ended up being a book full of merits where his travel experiences and the study of different aspects of the archipelago are mixed. Bowring is an impartial observer who looks at things in the Philippines with relative benevolence and genuine curiosity. He analyzes the characteristics of Tagalog and Bisaya, describes the ritual of cockfighting, explains the workings of the administration of justice, and is amazed to see many qualities of the Filipinos; for example, the quality of the textiles of Panay: “Considering that the Philippines are essentially an agricultural rather than a manufacturing region, the textile productions of Iloilo may be said to have reached a remarkable degree of development. Nothing strikes the attention at the weekly fairs held at the different towns more than the abundance of native goods offered for sale; and the number of looms at work in most of the towns and villages also affords matter for surprise”. He also expresses admiration for the landscape of Laguna: “Here we are surrounded by mountain scenery, and the forest trees present beautiful and various pictures. In addition to leaves, flowers and fruits of novel shapes and colors, the grotesque forms which the trunks and branches of tropical trees assume, as if encouraged to indulge in a thousand odd caprices, are among the characteristics of these regions”. The book is also accompanied by numerous plates of buildings, people and landscapes of Manila. Also small maps and sketches of territory. A musical score in Tagalog ends the volume. Very valuable and rare.","lot_group":"BOOKS","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":100000,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":100000,"userBid":5926,"isPaid":0,"userId":22,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":1635,"reserve_price":null,"hammer_price":120160,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":45096,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/70/98/lot/49.jpg","isFeatured":1},{"id":45092,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/70/98/lot/49 a.jpg","isFeatured":0},{"id":45091,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/70/98/lot/49 b.jpg","isFeatured":0}]},"increment":[70000,80000,90000,100000,110000,120000,130000,140000,150000,160000,170000,180000,190000,200000,220000,240000,260000,280000,300000,320000,340000,360000,380000,400000,450000,500000,550000,600000,650000,700000,750000,800000,900000,1000000,1100000,1200000,1300000,1400000,1500000,1600000,1700000,1800000,1900000,2000000,2200000,2400000,2600000,2800000,3000000,3200000,3400000,3600000,3800000,4000000,4200000,4400000,4600000,4800000,5000000,5500000,6000000,6500000,7000000,7500000,8000000,8500000,9000000,9500000,10000000,11000000,12000000,13000000,14000000,15000000,16000000,17000000,18000000,19000000,20000000],"prev":48,"next":50,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}