Necessary Fictions. Donated to the National Library in 1913, James Alexander Robertson declared three bark manuscripts, wit...

Necessary Fictions.
Donated to the National Library in 1913, James Alexander Robertson declared three bark manuscripts, with writing in baybayin using cuttlefish ink, "the greatest literary find in the Philippines." He declared them to be the only extant pre-Hispanic documents that escaped destruction by overzealous friars who erased our native culture. The manuscripts were displayed in the Library till they were lost or destroyed in the 1945 Battle for Manila.
This is a photo of one o...