83 MAO, Zedong. Banquet menu signed by Mao, five senior Chinese politicians, and Pakistani Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Beijing: 19 October 1956 signed by mao and other top chinese leaders An extraordinary autographed menu from the banquet celebrating the 1956 first Pakistani state visit to China, signed with a fountain pen by Mao, Premier Zhou Enlai, Marshal Zhu De, three other Chinese leaders, and Pakistani Prime Minister Suhrawardy. Autograph material by Mao rarely comes to market; scarcer still is this remarkable ensemble of some of modern Chinese history’s most influential statesmen. Mao’s signature, running down the right of the menu, is a splendid example of the elaborate, flowing calligraphy he used in the 1950s. Besides Mao, the list of signatories includes Zhou Enlai (1898–1976), Mao’s right-hand man in foreign affairs; Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (1892–1963), the newly appointed Pakistani premier; Zhu De (1886–1976), China’s leading general and the architect together with Mao of the communist victory in the Chinese civil war; Chen Yun (1905–95), vice chairman of the party’s Central Committee and one of the pioneers of the economic reform and opening up of the 1980s; Peng Zhen (1902–97), mayor of Beijing and later one of the “Eight Immortals” under Deng Xiaoping; and Huang Yanpei (1878–1965), vice chairman of the National People’s Congress. The 1956 visit was a chance for both China and Pakistan to confront Cold War tensions and the evolving diplomatic landscape in Asia. Suhrawardy wished to cultivate closer geopolitical and economic ties to Beijing and smooth over any tensions concerning Pakistan’s involvement in SEATO. For his part, Zhou was keen to dispel fears of Chinese hegemony. China herself, he pointed out during the visit, had suffered under Western colonialism and now wished to pursue industrial development in the spirit of peaceful co-existence with all countries, based on mutual respect. The signatories here were at the centre of these diplomatic exchanges. Contemporary Chinese state media reports, as well as official sources on Mao’s life, note that for the discussions with Suhrawardy, Zhou was accompanied by Mao, as well as Zhu, Chen, and Huang. In an official photograph of the signing ceremony for the memorandum of understanding, Zhou and Suhrawardy are seated, Mao is standing beneath the Chinese flag, and next to him stand Zhu and Peng. The signatures were most likely solicited by a prominent member of the Pakistani delegation, with the menu – usually the only paper to hand in a banquet setting – circulated around the top table. This truly exceptional item remained in private hands until 2001, when it was sold at J. A. Stargardt, Berlin, to a private German collector, remaining in that collection for 20 years. Menu card (217 × 115 mm), text printed in black, steel-engraved red emblem of the People’s Republic of China at head. Mounted, framed and glazed. Recto a little sunned with faint outline of matting at edges, verso with slight adhesive discolouration at head. A fine piece. £250,000 [156973] 84 MAO, Zedong. Mao zhuxi yulu (“Quotations from Chairman Mao”). [Shenyang: no named publisher,] 1964 “a single spark can light a prairie fire” – the final precursor to mao’s “little red book”
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A rare copy in exemplary condition of the final precursor to the first edition of the “Little Red Book”, here in the uncorrected text state; the last of Schiller’s “several variant specimen prototypes” (p. 15). Such examples, issued only in small quantities for internal use, are the unassuming genesis of a worldwide publishing phenomenon. Schiller identifies several prototypes of the “Little Red Book” printed before June 1964 when the distribution of the first edition within the People’s Liberation Army began. For this final variant, dated May 1964, Schiller delineates two states with or without typesetting errors in the text, with this copy in the uncorrected text state and containing a loosely inserted erratum slip inviting readers to cut out the correct characters and paste them into the main text. Instead of this rather fiddly procedure, a previous owner has simply corrected the in-text errors with a pen. Duodecimo. Original cream paper wrappers, title and five-pointed star to front cover in red. With errata slip listing six corrections loosely inserted. Housed in a red quarter morocco solander box by the Chelsea Bindery. Title page and epigraph printed in red. Ownership inscription of one “Ren Zhongya” to title page. A few faint marks to wrappers, couple of instances of underlining by a previous owner, contents else clean and fresh. A fine copy of this vulnerable publication. ¶ Justin Schiller, Quotations of Chairman Mao 1964–2014; A Short Bibliographical Study , 2014. £25,000 [150292]
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All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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