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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