Vintage Bookstore, Vintage Book

 


           

         . Amirasolo and Other Essays                        

Part 3. In my Book                                            

Essay 31. VINTAGE BOOKSTORE, VINTAGE BOOK

In 1999, Leonard Aguinaldo, Nemi Miranda, Steve Santos, and I was commissioned by Rex Printing to do an artwork each for their 2000 calendar. It was a special year for them because it was Rex Bookstore's 50th anniversary. I was asked to illustrate a 1950s scene of their original bookstore along Azcarraga (now C.M.Recto Avenue) in Quiapo.

I came up with the illustration above which took me around three weeks to finish. I don't remember the exact size of this acrylic on paper piece, but it must be around 14 X 9 inches. This illustration is just a reconstruction of sorts. I never saw how the old Rex Bookstore looked like, nor was I given a photo of it as reference. What was provided me was just an old photo of the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Rey Fontelera, who are shown here manning the counter.

I just used my imagination and lots of research to come up with that scene. But the glass showcase and cash register are authentic. Rex still has them in their main office in Quezon City where I made sketches of them. The children in the picture are supposed to be students of my alma mater, Holy Child Catholic School in Tondo, as can be guessed by my schoolmates from their uniforms. The model for the boy was my older son Bahgee.

The books stacked on the table at the lower right hand corner are vintage school books which I have in my collection. I bought them  from a bookshop along Recto Avenue way back in the early 1990s. Take note of the brownish book on top of the heap. That is Camilo Osias' "Philippine Readers-Book Six". I still have that book to this day, and I'm now rereading some stories from it. What is most remarkable about this book are the three or four illustrations done by Fernando Amorsolo.

I understand Adriano Natividad's dismay. Ads was the former assistant art director of Phoenix Publishing House. He has a Philippine Readers-Book One which has Amorsolo as its sole illustrator. One of Ads' friends said that that book was much sought after by collectors, and would fetch a tidy sum if he decides to sell it. But the problem is the book is no longer in mint condition, with many of the pictures cut out and the others colored with crayons by his grandchild.

Encouraged by Ads' story, I returned to the bookshop where I bought my Philippine Readers hoping to find a Book One copy. I scoured the shelves in search of that book. The shop still has vintage books all right, but there is no longer any Philippine Readers.

(Photo above: "Old Rex Bookstore"; 1999; acrylic on paper; 14 X 9 inches; Rey Fontelera collection)


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