China Photobook
Peking (Beijing): China Album Editing Committee, 1959. Chinese edition (Was also published in a German edition: China. Ein Bildband). Hardcover. Folio. 545,[6]pp. Original blind-stamped tan cloth and spine with Chinese lettering in red on front cover, with original heavy clear mylar wrapper, resting in original sturdy cardboard box. Fore-edge of box folds out for easy removal of book. Decorative endpapers. Ribbon marker. Spectacular communist propaganda work published to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China. Major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 and on October that same year, Mao Zedung (Tse Tung) proclaimed the new People's Republic of China. Tipped-in frontispiece portrait of Mao. Profusely illustrated with color & b/w reproductions of photographs (many in rich photogravure) showing Chinese industry & construction, Mao with 'his people' & officials, at rallies, Chinese army, farmers and workers, landscapes, nature & wildlife, architecture, sports, the Great Wall, etc. One image shows Mao with Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev. With many photographic reproductions of Chinese art works such as paintings and drawings, folk arts, sculpture, various ornaments, etc. Many plates tipped-in, few leaves in fold-out. The images give an impression of a productive, happy & joyful existence under Mao's rule. In reality, his economic and social plan known as the "Great Leap Forward" resulted in an estimated 45 million deaths. Index and photo captions in Chinese.
Some age wear, sunning and staining on box. Very minor staining on cloth. Exceptional copy with box in overall good, binding in very good, interior in fine condition. Item #33050
* Scarce Chinese communist work with photographs of 'daily life' in late 1950's China showing stunning images of the Great Wall, spectacular landscapes, as well as hundreds of other images. One of the most elaborate Chinese propaganda books ever published.
Price: $8,750.00