Sunday 25 October 2015

James Bond books sell for over £37 000 and I bought one of them


This week London auction house Dreweatts & Bloomsbury had a book auction that included many rarities and I got my hand on one of them. You can check out the catalogue here.

I could never imagine that some of the prices would end up so very high. It was quite sad to understand that some gaps in my collection will never be filled. I have kids, a country house and a car that I foremost need to make sure that I can afford if something happens. 

What I most of all wanted to win was the first edition MOONRAKER that was auctioned but due to the high price. I guess that will never happen. But as I said one of the books eventually became mine. More on that later.

What amazes me the most is that books on auction houses goes for a lot more then the ones on Ebay. I just cant understand this? Can anybody explain?
 
Below you will see the hammer prices. To that is an extra fee of +24%. After that its +3% for paying with creditcard.

Casino Royale, Sold for: £22 000
first edition, original boards, very minor bumping to foot, else fine, first issue dust-jacket without the Times review, very light browning to spine and at head, minor chipping to spine ends and corners, very short closed tear to foot of rear panel, very light surface soiling, minor browning to extremities of front flap, very light creasing to head, but an excellent example overall, [GIlbert A1a1.1], 1953.


Moonraker, Sold for £10 500
first edition, issue with ‘shoot’ on p.10, original boards, fine, dust-jacket, spine a little darkened, some very light surface soiling, but a remarkably sharp, near-fine example otherwise, 8vo, 1955.
From Russia, With Love, Sold for £1200
first edition, original boards, dust-jacket, slight discolouration to spine, spine ends and corners a little chipped, light creasing to head and foot with a few very short tears to foot of rear panel, light staining to rear panel, a little rubbed at extremities, still excellent overall, [Gilbert A5a1.1], 8vo, 1957.
Dr. No, Sold for £500
first edition, original second state boards with silhouette, light bumping to foot of spine, else fine, dust-jacket, spine lightly browned and with vertical crease, but an excellent copy overall, [Gilbert A6a 1.3], 8vo, 1958.
Thunderball, Sold for £400
first edition, original boards, minor bumping to spine ends and corners, dust-jacket, some minor rubbing and creasing to head and foot, but a near-fine example overall, [GIlbert A9a1.1], 8vo,1961.
The Spy Who Loved Me,Sold for £380 first edition,original boards, dust-jacket, light discolouration to spine, minor spotting to upper panel, very minor surface soiling to lower panel, but a bright and excellent example overall, [Gilbert A10a1.1], 8vo, 1962.
You Only Live Twice, Sold for £800uncorrected proof copy , original wrappers with repeated publisher's motif, slight shelf lean, spine creased, original proof dust-jacket by Chopping, with 4-line 'proof only' note typed onto inside front flap, a little creased and worn at head, foot of spine and corners a little chipped, staining to upper panel, light surface soiling, [Gilbert pp.387-388], 8vo , 1964 [1963].
You Only Live Twice, The man with the golden gun, Octopussy, Sold for £450
very minor browning to endpapers, jacket spine faded, very minor surface soiling,
1964; The Man with the Golden Gun, jacket with minor marking to upper panel, 1965; Octopussy and the Living Daylights, jacket with publisher's later price-sticker, 1966, first editions, original boards, dust-jackets, excellent or near-fine overall, [Gilbert A12a1.1; A13a1.3; A14a1.3], 8vo (3)

The Man with the Golden Gun, Sold for £1300
uncorrected proof copy,
original printed wrappers with Cape monograms, slight shelf-lean, minor creasing to spine, proof dust-jacket, creasing to head and foot and along spine, very short closed tear to head of upper panel, but an excellent example overall, [Gilbert pp.414-415], 8vo, 1965.
Note the difference on the dust jacket. 
I will get back to you later on these books once I have received the one item I won.


No comments:

Post a Comment

From the archives:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...