Printing History
Some historians dub Tomas Pinpin, as the "Prince of Filipino Printers" or the "Patriarch of Filipino Printing." He learned the art of printing about the end of 1608 in the Dominican-owned printing press in Abucay. In Abucay, Father Blancas employed in 1609 young Pinpin as an apprentice at the printing shop and taught him the art of printing.
The following year, 1610, now good at the job, he printed the famous book of Father Blancas de San Jose, Arte y Reglas de la Lengua Tagals (Art and Rules of the Tagalog Languages). In the same year,Tomas Pinpin was born in Barrio Mabatang, Abucay, Bataan, between 1580 and 1585. His principal traits, family name, and business acumen points to a Chinese lineage.
Very little is known of his parentage because of the loss of the parish records of Abucay, which the Dutch marauders plundered and burned in 1646. The Spanish historian Wenceslao E. Retana believed that he did not belong to the highest class of natives, the "Principales," such as Pablo Tanclanmanoc and Fernando Bagongbata also from Abucay, who were called "Dons" by the Spaniards themselves.
The Dominican-owned printing press was originally established in Binondo, Manila, in 1602, and was transferred to Abucay in 1608 by Francisco Blancas de San Jose (founder of the press), who was assigned parish priest of the town. This Dominican friar-printer was a consummate master of the Tagalog Language and author of various books in Tagalog.
Accordingly, he was called Demosthenes of Tagalog Language. Aside from being a printer and an author, he was a skilled engraver. He engraved beautifully the book he printed. His engravings revealed his remarkable gift as an artist. However, Pardo de Tavera, claimed that a book by one of the friars in 1648 stated at the end: "Printed in the Office of Tomas Pin-pin." Perhaps he had opened a printing shop of his own in Manila by that time, with his son Simon doing the work.
