Mr. Mario Feir Filipinana Books and other collections

Unit 11-A One McKinley Place , 26th Street Crescent Park West
Fort Bonifacio Global city , Taguig City -Philippines

Mr. Mario Feir together with his collection of Philippine books

I have known Mr. Mario Feir as a stamp collector ( philatelist ) rather than a book collector . We would occasionally bumped with each other during stamp club meetings , Bayanihan Collectors’ Club meetings once in a while . I would also notice had he would also bid for old books and postcards too!

an array of doll collection from different Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam from his trips abroad

Until one of our postal heritage tour participant,  an employee of NCCA told me that Mr. Feir and Mr. Stephen Feldman ( His best friend and also  an avid book collector)  had an extensive collection of Philippine books ( Filipinana)- The term is used by book collectors who specializes in Philippine published books. Normally the quantity of Philippine publication is not that big . While some local published books are meant for students ( mostly textbooks ) which are printed in recycled papers  meant to cater the students and masses.

part of his book collection  and a painting

A  Bibliophile ( technical term for book lover and collector) , Mr. Feir left New York about eight- years ago to return to the Philippines for good . He brought with him his growing Filipiniana collection, which, after settling into his Fort Bonifacio condominium unit , He decided to opened to students, researchers, collectors, readers. The library also includes ephemera like old postcards, posters, stamps, antique maps and prints, all of which Mr. Feir was kind enough to show to me during my visit. His book collection is about 10,000 volumes and still counting !

Rizaliana collection

The library had a good collection of Jose Rizal title books – aptly called Rizaliana ( Dr. Jose Rizal his life story and works ),  locally published literary works like Noli Me Tangere , El Filibusterismo among others.

old Philippine map

Mr. Mario had quite a good collection of Philippine maps and prints –Cartography Greek term khartes = papyrus (paper) and graphein = to write) The Yuchengco Museum in Makati would also invite him to their exhibit sometime last year . ( Old Philippine maps)

Fort William Mckinley postcards ( during the American regime ) now Bonifacio Global City

Mr. Mario Feir shows off his collection of rare stamps on covers

Collection :

Sir Mario Feir is an avid stamp collector, He started collecting stamps when he was still in his elementary days and still collecting Philippine and various stamps from all over the world. It is safe to assume that he had been a collector of stamps for more than 50 years !

 Spanish -Philippines stamps which dates back to 1854

He had some Spanish -Philippines stamp issued  in 1854.  For serious Philippine stamp collectors ( Spanish era stamps) are considered creme’ dela creme .

certificate of authenticity

With a certificate of authenticity from Comision de Expertos de Madrid this is a private group which are the experts in stamps issued by Spain and her colonies.  He also had a special de-humidifier devise installed in the air-conditioning units just to maintain the collection.

old document with beautiful  hand writing during the Aguinaldo revolutionary period

Feature:

He was also featured in one of Tulay fortnightly digest about 3 years ago , several bloggers , bibliophile , newspapers like Philippine Star ,  and glossy magazines  featured him on several occasions.

Visitors:

Mr. Mario Feir library  have it share of  visitors from various schools , universities , associations , book lovers, heritage advocates, history buff s ,  well-known personalities like Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos , Mr. Butch Dalisay ,  Chef Claude Tayag , NCCA employees, Malacanan Palace-Media communication staffs, stamp collectors among others.   Due to lack of space , He cannot accommodate  big group of people to his condominium unit. On a monthly basis , The library would get 15 to 20 visitors on an average .

Mr. Mario Feir and the author

Anyone who wanted to make research, study or just some time to chat with Mr. Mario Feir must make an apportionment .   Soft-spoken and warm, His eyes brightened up as he proudly showed me his Filipiniana collection and other stuffs  like  various DVD’s movies which numbered a few thousand of pieces, newspaper clippings  ,several art works and a balcony  garden  .  It seems that time flies so fast that it was almost sundown . I told Tito Mario and Sir Stephen  that i will be coming back for more in-depth research and perhaps a quick chit-chat probably in the near future .  Might tag along some fellow history and heritage buffs .  I must commend these people for sharing  their  time ,  home and their extensive knowledge about culture, history, heritage and art !

Contact Information 

Unit 11-A One McKinley Place
26th Street Crescent Park West
Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City- Philippines

Phone: (02)856-0957
Please try to call during office hours, Monday-Friday

Website: http://www.asianrarebooks.net/

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/mariofeir.filipinianalibrary

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Eight reasons to visit the 33rd Manila International Book Fair

SMX Convention Center , Pasay City , Metro Manila – Philippines

SMX main lobby

It was a cloudy day when i went to the SMX Convention Center, I was not able to catch -up on the opening day of the 33rd Manila Intentional Book fair  due to a lot of work and prior commitments.

I was given some complimentary tickets from my regular buyers  “suki ”  and friends from the bookstore industry . Unfortunately , some of the regular participants during the book fair seems to be absent.

Goodwill Bookstore booth

1.) Great Discounts on Books and other Reading Materials.

Goodwill Bookstore is the first booth that i have visited during the exhibition, This is one of the oldest bookstore established in 1937  that is still existing in the country.  Last year we were invited to the book launching of “Philippine Native Orchid Species ” by  Mr. Jim Cootes  .

Website: http://goodwillbookstore.com/content/17-philippine-native-orchid-species

This year, while chatting with some Goodwill store marketing personnel – I saw ” Bonsai & Suiseki ” Trees & Stones … in Harmony  ( hardbound ) – This book was printed in 2004 and is being sold for just Php 150 ! I quickly check the hardbound book ( for any lost pages and quality check) and immediately  paid for the book . While paying , the cashier told me that I have an eye for books ! then quickly recognized me , ” Hindi ba ikaw ang parati kasama namin tuwing may -orchid show” ? LOL .  Yes! I quickly told ,   the cashier .  Goodwill Bookstore used to participate  in orchid shows as stall holders selling various orchid and gardening books  .   Then the cashier told me that the book that i have purchased is indeed a great bargain. They used to sell that for almost a thousand pesos !

Array of books being sold at a bargain price

2.) Meeting Friends and People within the industry 

Mr. Jojo Manzano  of Unveiled at Last revised by the author

CSM bookstore is one of the 200 plus bookstores , publisher and distributor which participated in the book fair. CSM is the number one provider of christian resources in the Philipines.

Church Strengthening Ministry, Inc. CSM Bldg., Pascor Drive ,Sto. Nino, Parañaque City , 1704 Philippines

Tel. (632) 852-7301 to 04

Fax. (632) 851-0170

E-mail: direct@csm-publishing.com

Website : http://www.csm-publishing.org/

3.) Meet Your Favorite authors, cartoonist and illustrators

Ms. Sharron Navera author of Haunted TV Shows

Went to the booth of PSICOM Publishing Company and  bought  3 books ,  2 books written by Mr. Stanley Chi  (Suplado Tips 1 and Pogi Points )

Website : http://www.stanleychi.net/

  Ms. Sharron Navera author of  ( Haunted TV Shows)  i got a chance to interview her despite her hectic schedule. Some of the books that she wrote are re-published again .   I left the 2 other books with Ms. Jem Doromal with the receipt and my business card hoping to let  Mr. Stanley Chi autograph the book, The book signing is scheduled tomorrow September 15, 2012.   I normally would buy books and leave them to the publisher for autograph signing, But this is my first time to leave the books with the  PSI company ( I have no idea if they will let the author sign it ? or will just put them in a corner ?)  .  The book is quite cheap, However since the paper is just like newspaper type , I am expecting that despite of nice storage facilities that i have at home, tropical stains and humidity would take its toll in this kind of newspaper type of paper.  Perhaps the company would take in consideration the quality of the paper ( so that it would last longer) rather than quantity .

 PSI Publishing : http://www.psicompublishing.com/zen/

4.) Interesting booths and displays – energy balls  from which  static electricity are generated  that people who touch the ball   make their hair stand on end. This is one of the interesting booths at the ongoing 33rd Manila International Book Fair . The Philippine Science Centrum had some collaboration with Goodwill Bookstore and is among the most frequently visited booth . Aside from learning thru books, students can learn practical science, math thru interactive displays .

                           Philippine Science Centrum -part of their awareness and promotion is a traveling exhibit

Website: http://www.science-centrum.ph/

Child friendly booth

5.) Freebies and other Perks- Leslie’s Food Corporation is one of the companies which gave free snacks during the book-fair.  Some exhibitor booth gave interesting paper fans, bags , magazines  and book marks !

6.) Contests and Games- Diwa Publishing sponsored a battle of the brain type of contest which is called ” Pasiklaban” 

7.) Workshop, Story Telling and Lectures- Mrs. Maricel Laxa- Pangilinan conducting a story telling ” Kuya na si Bunso ”  last September 14, 2012. Almost every booth had its own book launching , story telling from celebrities, freebies and lectures.

 

8.) Cosplays and Costume party- some of the exhibit booths allows visitors to wear costumes and  have some time character playing . Cos-players is also a delight to all the visitors of the event, they have contest for best in costume presentation.

“Learning is Fun ” just like this exhibit booth , some of the books are price at Php 10.00 each

I would normally linger the whole day but due to busy schedule  .  I have to cut my visit to the event for just a couple of hours , enough for me to buy at least 3 dozen books ( at bargain prices !)  .  Bibliophile or book lovers/ collectors would definitely take time to attend this event. Unfortunately , i was not able to buy postcards from Book Mark which was absent during this year’s book-fair.

Admission FEE is Php 20 for the general public and Php 10 for student

The Book Fair opens from 10:00am to 8:00pm

The event is until September 16, 2012.

 Note:  Some bookstores , publisher and exhibitor would normally give away complimentary tickets to their “suki” regular customers .

30th Manila International Book Fair

SMX Convention Center, Pasay City -Philippines

The Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) once again unrolls the carpet at the Exhibit Halls of the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex, in Pasay City with the theme “Opening Doors and Pages: A Legacy of Books.’’

Goodwill Bookstore booth

Last September 18, 2009 friday ,   I went to the largest book fair in town. The 30th Manila International  Book Fair was scheduled from September 16th to 20th. This event was  considered  as the  Philippines’ premiere book event and the longest-running book fair in Asia, the annual MIBF celebrated their Pearl Anniversary. the show  featured new and  interesting events that  draw double, if triple the visitor-turnout this year.

Rex Bookstore

The five-day fair  included storytelling sessions (reading and interpretative performances for kids and kids-at-heart); book and product launching; live musical performances; cooking demonstrations; and competitions.

Tomas Pinpin- Prince of Filipino Printer  and Fray Francisco Blancas de San Jose- Father of Philippine Printing

There were  seminars on how to  published, freelance writing, intellectual property protection, care and repair of books, digital debate on archives, museum, and libraries, projecting a good image of the library, professional etiquette for librarians, how to export books, ICT in education, and dealing with the challenges the publishing industry faces amid the ongoing global financial crisis.

Vibal Publishing booth

With reading and literary as its battle cry, the MIBF has been successful in gathering and uniting publishers, authors, booksellers, educators, librarians, and readers of varying generations, cultures, interests, and backgrounds.

seminar

It has made books more accessible to an increasing number of Filipinos, especially those who have had little or no access to books. There were  foreign exhibitors which came from ASEAN member countries and Asian countries like Taiwan and China.

life -sized mannequin on display

Aside from the regular lectures, there are also life- sized mannequin exhibits and cos players during the event. The people who participated in the  cosplay event drew a lot of young spectators.

Diwa Publishing mobile van

MIBF has efficiently and effectively provided a venue for promoting new titles and authors, for dialogue with customers and readers, and for discussing ways to improve the quality of books with peers in the publishing industry. In its bid to promote reading and literacy, it has showcased traditional and new media and presented books and other published works in all their permutations to an ever increasing number of audiences.

National Bookstore

The MIBF is organized by Primetrade Asia, Inc. in partnership with the Asian Catholic Communicators, Inc., the Book Development Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Booksellers Association, Inc., and the Publishers’ Representatives Organization of the Philippines.

National Artist Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera and Dr. Elmer Ordoñez during the PEN Writers talk

Philippine literary greats  appeared at the MIBF. The Philippine PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists) holds a series entitled “Dialogue with the Writers” at the business lounge, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Every year, thousands of book lovers would troop to the venue to buy the most interesting paperbacks or get the latest bestsellers at a much lower rate.

Anvil Publishing booth

Students , professors, bargain hunters, bibliophile also get to buy textbooks at discounted price. This is the event where books are sold at a wholesale or bargain prices.

children enjoyed playing inside the bus

It is heartwarming to know that despite the tougher challenges confronting the book and publishing industries, new trends and breakthroughs in technology, the economic crunch, and the fact that Filipinos are not a reading bunch compared to other Asian countries , the MIBF continues to espouse the noble mission of providing a venue that encourages reading, publishing, and book selling.