Autographed Mao book sells for $220,000

BEIJING:A rare copy of the book New Democracy, written by China’s founding father Mao Zedong and bearing his signature, has been sold for $220,000 by a US auction house.

The book was auctioned by Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City, Maryland, on Wednesday.

“The book was inscribed at the height of World War II by Communist leader Mao Zedong, commonly known as Chairman Mao, which was presented to a French aristocrat fleeing the Japanese assault on Beijing,” the Global Times tabloid reported on Thursday.

Mao (1893-1976) is deeply revered in present day China despite some criticism of his later-day policies. His iconic portrait continues to hang above a gate at the Forbidden City overlooking Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing.

What makes the copy of the book rare is that Mao signed it in characters with a calligraphy brush and at some length.

The report said: “Mao signed in Chinese characters with a calligraphy brush on the inside cover of the book, saying, ‘Let us unite with all democratic countries to conquer the Japanese-italiangerman fascism and build a new world of peace and democracy. Maotse-tung’.”

Bill Panagopulos, president of the auction house, described the book as ultraexclusive to Washington Examiner, a Us-based political news website.

“Mao’s signature is one of the rarest obtainable – one comes to market only every few years. Nevertheless, being one of the most important statesmen of all time, he remains in great demand,” he said. “It is, undoubtedly, the best Mao handwritten piece to surface in many years! Conceivably $500,000+.”

New Democracy was written in 1942 by Mao.