WHY DO PEOPLE COLLECT MAPS?

A map is an attractive thing.

- LISA ONGPIN PERIQUET

Carta Hydrographica y Chronographica delas Yslas Filipinas, Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde, S.J., Manila, 1734: The most famous of all Philippine maps was commissioned by Governor-General Fernando de Valdes y Tamon from the Jesuit Father Pedro Murillo Velarde, upon a royal order from King Philip V. It was engraved by the Filipino artist Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay, who signed himself "Indio Tagalo." It also functions as a sea chart with rhumb lines intersecting from four compass roses. Two tracks for the Manila Galleon are indicated, as well as routes taken by Magellan and for trading with China. The map was prized for its large size, beauty, accuracy, decorative details, and the 12 side panels with detailed engravings of ethnic groups living in the Philippines, rural scenery and city maps. Many versions and sizes of the Murillo Velarde map were reproduced overseas. The framed photographic reproduction by Per Andre Hoffman is from the collection of Anton and Lisa Periquet

As visual objects, maps are complex works of art that combine skilled drawing ability; and printing techniques on a variety of surfaces that is most often paper, but can include animal skins, wood, or any other hard or semi-hard surface. Depictions of sea creatures, ships, people, combined with elaborate cartouches which state the relevant details of the map, including dates and cartographers' names, are all fascinating decorative touches that contribute to the beauty of a map.

An exhibition of maps, "Classics of Philippine Cartography from the 16th to the 20th Centuries," has quietly opened at the National Museum of the Philippines-Cebu, with the aim of bringing to the Central Visayas audience a view of Philippine maps through the ages.