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81 MANDELA, Nelson – ALBERTS, Paul. Some Evidence of Things Seen. Children of South Africa. Rivonia, South Africa: Open Hand Trust, 1997 one of 10 copies, signed by mandela and tutu Signed limited edition, extra limited issue, number X of 10 copies issued in blue leather and signed by Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Albie Sachs, and Paul Alberts; a further 50 copies were issued in green and in red leather. A remarkable collaboration: this is the only limited edition signed by both Mandela and Tutu – Nobel Peace Prize winners in 1993 and 1984 respectively – alongside a third major figure in the anti-Apartheid movement, Albie Sachs, who became a judge on South Africa’s Constitutional Court, helped draft the Bill of Rights, and has received numerous international awards for jurisprudence. The book gathers photographs of South African children taken by Paul Alberts, predominantly from before the end of Apartheid, with an introduction by Mandela, and text provided by Tutu and Sachs (both additionally signing the start of their section). The copies issued in green and red leather were initially only rubber-stamped by Mandela with a signed bookplate by Tutu and afterwards hand-signed; the copies in blue leather were signed directly without the rubber stamp and bookplate. Accompanying the book are three letters serving as certificates of authenticity, each signed by an assistant verifying that the named individual signed the book: the first on behalf of Nelson Mandela in May 1999, the second on behalf of Archbishop Tutu in September 2000, and the third on behalf of Justice Albie Sachs in October 2000. At the point of signing, the individuals were respectively President of the Republic of South Africa, Chairman of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission, and Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. An unsigned trade edition was also published. There is no priority between the different issues. Quarto. Original blue bonded leather, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, blue speckled edges. Housed in the original blue leather slipcase. Illustrated throughout with black and white photographs. A few page corners just turned at upper outer corner, else a fine copy. £5,000 [156944] 82 MAO, Zedong. Official Portrait Poster. Shanghai: Printed An exceptionally well-preserved example of a rare Mao portrait poster, published soon after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, issued as an early attempt to establish him as a state figurehead. This is an example of a short-lived approach to depicting Mao that quickly gave way to the full-face style seen in official Mao portraits up to the present day. By 1949, having secured control of China’s major cities including the capital, the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party turned their attention to consolidating the Party’s image in the eyes of ordinary people. Part of this process involved distributing official images of senior figures – especially Mao Zedong – for display in workplaces, schools, and public areas. The present poster was intended to reinforce the stately image of the country’s new leader. Painted and printed around 1950, it shows Mao looking into the distance, as if toward the future, projecting the authoritative and contemplative qualities befitting the leader of the world’s newest by Shanghai Xu Shengji yinshua chang, [c.1950] establishing mao as state figurehead
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