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First edition of Jose Rizal's 'El Filibusterismo' sold for ₱21 million
A first edition of Jose Rizal's "El Filibusterismo" was sold at the Asian Cultural Council Auction 2026 on Saturday, February 14.
According to historian Ambeth Ocampo on Facebook, it was sold at Leon Gallery for P21 million plus premium and VAT. The gallery announced that it is now the most expensive book sold in the country.
The book was signed and written on by Rizal himself.
He wrote, "A mi querido amigo el doctor T. H. Pardo de Tavera, Jose Rizal, Gante, 16/ IX 1891."
It means, "To my dear friend, the doctor T. H. Pardo de Tavera, Jose Rizal, Ghent, 16 September 1891)."
According to the Leon Gallery website, the "El Filibusterismo" copy was from the collection of Don Trinidad Pardo de Tavera. His name was stamped on the title page and it was said on the inside front cover that it was from his library.
It was up for viewing at the gallery for two weeks before the auction.
According to Leon Gallery Director Jaime De Leon in an online interview with GMA News Online, what makes this edition rare is that fewer copies of "El Filibusterismo" were printed, estimated to be less than a thousand.
"Rizal was very hard up, paying by installment. He was living on tea and biscuits to save money. Then the copies that did make it were being confiscated and burned by the friars and the Spanish regime," he said.
"What makes it even rarer is that it has Rizal's signature and dedication to best friend, Trinidad Pardo de Tavera. The Pardo de Tavera provenance makes it also important—impeccably so."
—Nika Roque/MGP, GMA Integrated News
