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17 CHARLES III, as Prince of Wales. Watercolours. Boston, Toronto, London: Little, Brown and Company, 1991 signed by the king Signed limited edition, number 9 of 100 copies signed by Charles and specially bound, to mark the occasion of his 50th birthday, with sales benefiting the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation. King Charles III is a keen amateur artist. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother contributed the preface. Oblong quarto. Original green morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe- Zaehnsdorf (gilt stamp to rear pastedown), spine lettered in gilt between two raised bands, gilt Prince of Wales insignia to front cover, gilt ruled turn-ins, marbled endpapers, gilt edges. Housed in original green cloth slipcase. With colour illustrations throughout. Indentation to single page, else a fine copy. £2,500 [147977] 18 CHIANG, Ching-kuo – WOMEN DE ZHONGHUA BIANJI WEIYUANHUI. Women de Zhonghua (“Our China”). Taipei: Guofang bu zong zhengzhi zuozhan bu, 1965 signed by the future president of taiwan First edition, second printing, of this lavishly illustrated bilingual propaganda photobook, signed by Chiang Ching-kuo, future president of Taiwan, three months after he survived an assassination attempt. Edited by the military, this guide to every Chinese province aimed to cultivate national pride and assert the Kuomintang’s sovereignty over the Chinese mainland in its long- running conflict with Mao’s communists. As the son of Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo (1910– 1988) was one of the leading figures in Taiwanese politics after 1949, eventually being elected president in 1978. His tenure as Minister of National Defence between 1965 and 1969 coincided with the publication of this work, with Chiang likely required to approve proofs. In 1969, he was promoted to the position of Vice-Premier, and on an official visit to the United States in April
1970 he was targeted in an assassination attempt outside the Plaza Hotel in New York. An inscription below his signature notes that he signed the present copy on 24 July 1970. Compiled by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defence, with a preface by General Peng Meng-chi, chief of the general staff, this photobook was to “orient the readers on our geography, cultural achievements and revolutionary struggles against foreign aggressions so that our compatriots may be inspired by the greatness of the Chinese people and of Pres. Chiang [Kai-shek]” (p. 13). The reader is taken on a visual journey through China province by province, with introductory remarks accompanied by dozens of images of scenic spots and sites and buildings of historical significance. Portraits of Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai- shek frame the work – a reminder of Taiwan’s supreme leader and the revolutionary pedigree on which he based his legitimacy. By its very scope, therefore, this publication reasserted the Kuomintang’s sovereignty over the mainland even though, for the non-Taiwan portions, the editors could only rely on images taken before the 1949 evacuation. As a military-sponsored publication, the first edition of Women de Zhonghua was released only for use within the army, hence this copy carries no price. A commercial edition followed a few months later in November 1965. All editions are now uncommon institutionally, with copies of the first held predominantly in libraries in the United States and Taiwan. Folio. Original brown cloth-backed green marble-patterned boards, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, photographic illustration of Chinese archaeological relics on front cover, orange pictorial endpapers. Illustrations and maps throughout. Foot of spine and upper corners bumped, rear inner hinge beginning to split, book block holding firm, small colour losses and skinning to rear endpaper and several pages at margins, largely unobtrusive. A very good copy. £3,000 [151399]
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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