Mao Zedong | Mao Zhuxi Yulu [Quotations of Chairman Mao], [Beijing,] 1964, first edition

Mao Zedong

Mao Zhuxi Yulu [Quotations of Chairman Mao]. [Beijing:] Printed and edited by the Central Intelligence Bureau of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, May 1964

FIRST EDITION, first issue, 12mo, sepia-printed Mao portrait frontispiece, ownership inscription on title-page, printed cream paper wrappers with lettering in black within red rectangular background, publisher's name at bottom, some light spotting, wrappers slightly stained and creased, ink stain to lower wrapper

First edition, first issue binding, complete with Lin Biao's endorsement.

A GOOD EXAMPLE of one of the copies in wrappers (rather than vinyl textured plastic), indicating an earlier issue, intended for individual high-ranking officers. The book was published on a restricted basis in June or July 1964 (the preface is dated May 1964), though by the end of 1967 it is estimated that 720 million copies had been printed. Lin Biao's calligraphic endorsement leaf, quoting the hero Lei Feng, reads "Study Chairman Mao's writings, follow his teachings and act according to his instructions". In the earliest editions it contains an error (a superfluous mark, as here), which was rectified in the third edition of August 1965. The endorsement was latterly removed, after Lin Biao's disgrace, though even the earliest editions sometimes lack the endorsement leaf or have it defaced, as a sign of loyalty to Mao.