THE University of Santo Tomas has mounted an exhibit of old books and other historical treasures which, school officials say, prove that globalization first came to Philippine shores some four centuries ago.
Called “Lumina Pandit,” which is Latin for “spreading the light,” the exhibit highlights, aside from the oldest books in existence in the country, ancient documents and other school paraphernilia that chronicle UST’s 400 years of existence.
Lumina Pandit is the contribution of UST’s Miguel de Benavides’ Library to the school’s quadricentennial in January 2011.
“Some young people today think that ‘globalization’ is a 21st century thing. But from the Philippine perspective, I think globalization started when the missionaries came, brought all these books with them, and exposed Filipinos to all these European ideologies,” said UST professor and exhibit manager Anna Maria Gloria Ward.
Among the books highlighted in the collection is the oldest book in the UST Library and in the Philippines, a book published in the year 1492 entitled La Guerra Judaica written by the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius.
The exhibit also has the first book on medicine, Hippocrates’ Opera Omnia, one of the books on which medical science was founded. UST is well known for its school of medicine and has produced some of the country’s best doctors, including the national hero Jose Rizal.
Rizal’s academic records are also on display at the library, as are the grades and other school documents of such heroes as Apolinario Mabini, Marcelo H. Del Pilar and Emilio Jacinto.
The exhibit will run until Jan. 30.
VERA Files’ Luz Rimban visited the Library recently and talked with Ward about the exhibit. She filed this Soundslides project.