The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 30 of 55, 1640 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century

This volume gathers two striking early‑century documents that illuminate life in the Philippine archipelago before 1640. Bright facsimiles of a 1633 Mercator map, a 1736 commercial survey, and a 1640 Dominican mission history sit beside period paintings, offering listeners a visual feel for the islands as European eyes first recorded them. The material frames the region’s strategic role in the Spanish empire, from spice‑route defence to the spread of Catholic missions.

The first text, drawn from an official Spanish report, lays out the tangled trade between the Philippines and New Spain, exposing the constraints on Chinese silk exports and the economic arguments presented to royal officials. The second portion begins Diego Aduarte’s extensive chronicle of Dominican activity, revealing the zeal of missionaries and the everyday realities of colonial settlement. Together they sketch a vivid portrait of a thriving, contested outpost on the edge of empire, inviting listeners to hear the voices of merchants, officials, and priests who shaped its early history.