Mao Tse Tung

Quotations from Chairman Mao [Chinese title]. Beijing: by the Central political Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, 1964



16mo (5 7/16 x 4 in.; 138 x 102 mm). 250 pp., half-title printed in red, title-page printed in red and green within a double green border, lithograph [heliotype?] portrait of Mao, rare facsimile of Lin Biao's calligraphic endorsement of Mao's writings; light staining to half-title, otherwise a very clean copy. Printed red and black wrappers; light staining to wrappers, subtle repairs to backstrip. Cream linen folding case by the Temple Bookbinders, title stamped in red on upper cover and spine, red felt interior.  

Han, Oliver Lei. "Sources and Early Printing of Chairman Mao's 'Quotations,'" see http://www.bibsocamer.org/BibSite/Han/index.html

First edition, first printing of Chairman Mao's Little Red Book, which was produced by Lin Biao in May 1964 for military use as a pocket handbook for inspirational reading. Difficult to identify as there is no dated colophon, this first printing is a bit taller than all later editions, and includes an error found in the earliest form of Lin's calligraphic facsimile endorsement,where a superfluous brushstroke occurred in the second vertical line from the right, second character from the top, which was corrected when the book was later reprinted.

Following Vice Chairman Lin's unsuccessful alleged attempt to assassinate Mao in September 1971, people were encouraged to tear out Lin's endorsement. In copies printed after 1971, the facsimile page was no longer included. While only a small number of the original 1964 printing survive, most copies lack one ore more pages: Lin's endorsement, and often the preface in which his name appears. The present copy is complete, intact, and in a handsome state of preservation.