The Manuscript Cover of NOLI ME TANGERE, designed by RIZAL
At the top, all that is best in Philippine life: woman, symbolizing constancy, religious faith symbolized by the tombstone, with a laurel (courage) and the flower of the pomelo, worn by bride and groom at a wedding and symbolizing purity.
The words partly covered by the title are the secret, inner dedication by Rizal to his parents, the complete text being probably: 'A mis P(adres.) al escribir e(sta obra he estado) pensando continuamente e(n vosotros que me) habeis
infundido los (primeros pensamientos) y las primeras ideas; a (vosotros os dedi)co este manuscrito de me (joventud com p)rueba de amor. Berlin, (21 de Febrero de) 1887.
To the left of the title, the flower mirasol, representing youth seeking the sun. The author's name, meaning the green of renewal, mounting up into the green of the most enduring of all Philippine trees, the bamboo. At the bottom, all that is worst in Philippine life: the helmet of the Civil Guard, the whip and instruments of torture, and the foot of a friar.