Limited edition of FOREVER AND A DAY coming soon

A few days back I wrote about the fact that Anthony Horowitz upcoming James Bond novel FOREVER AND A DAY can be bought at the book chain Waterstones and on their website.

Now Goldsboro books has revealed that they are releasing a limited edition of 750 books signed by Horowitz on June 7, 2018. The difference is that their edition has sprayed edges (colour unknown but hoping for gold).

Goldsboro books released a limited edition of Trigger Mortis back in the fall of 2015. At that time the cook cost £25. They still have prints of that book left and they are now on sale for £120. A hefty increase in price during these three years.

If you want your signed Goldsboro edition you might need to be be quick on your ordering finger. Triger Mortis was available in 1 000 prints but Forever and a day will only be available in 750 prints and might sell out quicker. 

   

James Bond books sold for an amazing $40,123

Recently there was a big book auction in the US that offered a section of valuable Ian Fleming books. Below you can see the prices the books went for. Below is pictures of the actual books being sold. Maybe you have anyone like these in your collection. The entire Fleming collection fetched $40,123. You may click on each book to see a bigger version.Please note that prices include the auction house fee but not tax.

The Man with the Golden Gun. London: Jonathan Cape, [1965]. First edition. Octavo. 221, [3, blank] pages. Publisher's full cloth, gold lettering on spine. In a pictorial dust jacket. Spine cocked, extremities worn, spine ends and corners of front board bumped. Some soiling on textblock edges, adhesive residue and abrasions on paste downs, ink mark on front free endpaper, occasional soiling in margins, upper corner creased on page 17/18. Jacket foxed, toned and soiled, minor chips on edges, cello-tape repairs on verso of spine panel. Very good. Sold for $163

 You Only Live Twice. [London]: Jonathan Cape, [1964]. First edition, uncorrected proof. Octavo. 256 pages. Publisher's perfect binding in original printed wrappers. Spine leaning, wrappers rubbed with occasional light soiling, faint tidemark along fore-edge of front wrapper, joints worn, corners bumped. Preliminary and terminal leaves glued to wrappers at gutter, minor faint staining to preliminary leaves, occasional over-opening. Good. Sold for $525

The Man with the Golden Gun. London: Jonathan Cape, [1965]. First edition, uncorrected proof. Octavo. 221, [3, blank] pages. Publisher's perfect binding in original printed wrappers. Front wrapper worn with a series of small bruises, faint diagonal crease across lower portion; joints worn, small chip to foot of spine; corners lightly creased. Hinges discretely reinforced. About very good. I bid $1,025. Sold for $1,062

Diamonds are Forever. London: Jonathan Cape, [1956]. First edition, first impression, with "His friends called him 'Boofy'" on page 134. Octavo. 257, [1, blank] pages. Publisher's black cloth, diamond device stamped in silver and diamond pattern ruled in blind on front board, spine lettered in silver, in original pictorial dust jacket designed by Pat Marriott. Small blemish to lower-right of front board, upper corners softly bumped. Endpapers lightly discoloured from binder's glue with some minor corresponding foxing, hard pencil erasure to upper-right of front free endpaper with small bruise, small stains to lower margin of page twenty-five, affecting adjacent leaves. Jacket edges lightly worn, particularly at spine ends, with small closed tear at bottom of front joint fold, extending to Cape urn device on spine; rear panel lightly rubbed with two small splashes in author bio; spine panel verso faintly darkened; price-clipped. Very good. Sold for $ 1,000

Diamonds are Forever. London: Jonathan Cape, [1956]. First edition, with "Boofy" on page 134. Octavo. 257, [1, blank] pages, with pages [9-10] not accounted for in pagination. Publisher's black cloth, front board pattered in blind with central diamond device stamped in silver, spine lettered in silver, in original dust jacket. Spine leaning gently, front board slightly splayed, lower edge of front board softly bumped. Page edges and endpapers lightly foxed. Dust jacket with closed tear at upper edge of rear panel near joint fold, recently addressed by small tape repair primarily on verso but folded over to small portion of spine and rear panels; spine panel faintly darkened with small bruise between "Diamonds" and "are," rear panel lightly rubbed with some faint soiling, edges and folds somewhat worn. Still, very good. Sold for $1,750

Octopussy and The Living Daylights. London: Jonathan Cape, [1966]. First edition, uncorrected proof, with sixteen words of notes regarding layout in pencil to preliminary pages and four on the front panel of the dust jacket. Octavo. 94, [95], [1, blank] pages. Publisher's perfect binding in printed cape wrappers, in original oversized proof-issue dust jacket with inset box stating "Proof Only..." on front flap. Spine very gently leaning with some minor creasing, rear wrapper slightly cockled at fore edge. Minor small stain to lower margin of page 11. Dust jacket top edge lightly worn with some minor creasing, as expected due to size. Near fine. Sold for $1,250

 

Group of Five Books. London: Jonathan Cape, [1957-1966]. First editions, including From Russian with Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy. Five octavo volumes Publisher's bindings and dust jackets. Some rubbing on bindings, spines leaning, ink ownership signatures. Dust jackets rubbed, edgeworn, and stained. For Your Eyes Only has staining on edges and front free endpaper, bookplate and small abrasions on front pastedown. Octopussy foxed on textblock edges, preliminary and terminal sheets, and dust jacket. From Russia, with Love has light foxing on top edge, and ink marks in margins and underlining text. Thunderball has staining on front free endpaper. Overall, very good. Sold for $625

On Her Majesty's Secret Service. London: Jonathan Cape, [1963]. First edition, uncorrected proof, one of 500 printed. Octavo. 288 pages. Publisher's perfect binding in original printed wrappers. Wrappers lightly rubbed, front wrapper lightly soiled, spine somewhat creased and leaning slightly, joints worn, corners softly bumped. Text block lightly foxed at fore-edge with small splash at top, occasional minor over-opening. Very good. According to Gilbert, "The proof of On Her Majesty's Secret Service has more errors and required more amendments than any other Fleming title, both in terms of careless composition and poor spelling..." Sold for $1,062 

The Spy Who Loved Me. London: Jonathan Cape, [1962]. First edition, uncorrected proof, one of only 500 copies. Octavo. 221, [3, blank] pages. Publisher's perfect binding in original printed wrappers. Wrappers lightly rubbed with some minor marginal soiling, particularly near the joint of the rear wrapper; spine rolled, cocked slightly and somewhat darkened. Top edge of text block with slight discolouration near crown, small bruise to half-title page near hinge where paper folded back and was glued to page, likely during the binding process. Very good. Sold for $687

 

On Her Majesty's Secret Service. London: Jonathan Cape, [1963]. First edition, limited issue, one of thirty-five unnumbered copies marked "Presentation," from a total limitation of 285, including 250 numbered copies, and signed by the author on the limitation page. Octavo. 288 pages, frontispiece after painting by Amherst Villiers tipped in. Publisher's quarter vellum over black cloth-cover boards with large ski-track motif on front cover, in publisher's plain protective clear plastic dust jacket. Spine somewhat darkened, joints softly creased with a touch of rubbing and a few spots of minor soiling. Mild over-opening to the first gathering. About near fine. Sold for $12,500

 

 

 Casino Royale. London: Jonathan Cape, [1953]. First edition, first impression, first issue of the first James Bond novel. Octavo. 218, [2, blank] pages. Publisher's black cloth, front board stamped in orangish-red with central heart device, spine lettered in orangish-red, in original first issue dust jacket lacking the over-printed Sunday Times review. Front board slightly soiled along lower edge, small damp stain to rear board at joint, spine gently leaning. Top edge of text block and free endpapers faintly foxed, page margins a bit browned, but pages still supple. A very good copy, housed in custom black clamshell case. Sold for $11,250 

Goldfinger. London: Jonathan Cape, [1959]. First edition, first issue, second state with blind-stamped detail lacking from upper-left portion of skull decoration. Octavo. 318 pages. Publisher's black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, front board stamped in blind with line-drawing of skull, gold pieces over eye sockets blacked in gilt, in original dust jacket. Front board lightly rubbed, spine slightly skewed, upper corners softly bumped. Occasional light foxing to page edges and endpapers. Dust jacket edges lightly worn, heaviest at spine ends and fold, spine panel somewhat darkened, light soiling on flap folds. Very good. Sold for $625

Thunderball. London: Jonathan Cape, [1961]. First edition, uncorrected proof, one of 500 copies. Octavo. [254], [2, blank] pages. Publisher's perfect binding in original printed wrappers. Front wrapper lightly soiled, spine leaning and a bit darkened, bottom of spine bumped, joints creased, series of small splashes to fore-edge of text block. Preliminary and terminal blanks discoloured at gutter from binder's glue, due to possible repair, occasional light over-opening, scant wear and small closed tears to page edges. Very good. I bid $1,750. Sold for $1,812

 

Live and Let Die. London: Jonathan Cape, [1954]. First edition, serif faint on the signature letter "I" on page 129. Octavo. 240 pages. Publisher's black cloth, Edward IV gold rose noble coin device stamped in gilt on front board, spine lettered in gilt, in original second issue dust jacket, (identified as third state by Biondi and Pickard). Front board bent near joint and slightly splayed, with three short ripples in cloth above coin device, spine gently cocked, gilt slightly tarnished, upper corners softly bumped. Occasional light foxing to edges of text block, blemish with small bruise at upper corner of front free endpaper from pencil erasure. Sold for $937

Moonraker. London: Jonathan Cape, [1955]. First edition, second state, with "shoot" corrected on page ten but other textual and printing errors present. Octavo. 255, [256] pages. Publisher's B binding of black cloth, measuring 194 mm tall, front board and spine lettered in silver, in original first-issue dust jacket. Binding lightly rubbed with few minor surface scuffs, rear board slightly warped, spine gently leaning. Page edges foxed with series of small splashes to fore-edge and small dampstain across the bottom edge. Front free endpaper and first two leaves as well as rear endpapers and two terminal leaves foxed; rear endpaper also soiled and stained. Sold for $3,250

Complete Set of Facsimile First Edition James Bond Books. Sheldon, CT: The First Edition Library, [circa early 1990s]. FEL editions, facsimiles of the Cape first editions of each of Fleming's Bond titles. Fourteen octavo volumes. Publisher's bindings, in original dust jackets and slipcases. Fine, in the original shrink wrap. Sold for $1,625

James Bond The authorised biography first edition

Added to my collection is the UK first edition of JAMES BOND - THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY by John Pearson.

The book was published in 1973 and cost £2,75 new at the time.

John Pearson had a few years earlier written THE LIFE OF IAN FLEMING. A lovely book about the author of the James Bond series.
According to Wikipedia, JAMES BOND - THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY, was never a commissioned novel by Ian Fleming Publications (Glidrose Publications at the time).

The book was therefore the first James Bond book not to be published by Jonathan Cape but instead Sidgwick & Jackson. Even if the story was not commissioned  by Glidrose Publications, John Pearson still needed their approval for the novel to be published. The copyright is therefore owned by both Ian Fleming Publications and John Pearson for this story and this might be the reason that we never see it included with the rest of the books nowadays.

This might also be the reason the book has such a poor layout on the first edition. Maybe they were not allowed to draw James Bond on the dust jacket. As they are not allowed now.

If you have not read this book I highly recommend that you do. I truly enjoyed this novel and have very fond memories of reading it. It was the first James Bond novel I read in English and when I had finished reading it I decided to start reading all the other books in English for the first time.

If anybody knows more about how this book came about please feel free to comment below. I would love to hear it.

If you wish to read this highly enjoyable book you can buy it here on Amazon UK. I myself have a few of the different releases of this book and will soon sell a few of them on my Ebay Page.

Not much to get exited about with this cover design.

I read the early hardbacks of Ian Fleming

I am currently re-reading the Fleming novels and have so far read CASINO ROYALE and  LIVE AND LET DIE and I am now reading MOONRAKER.

But I believe that they way I am reading the books is a bit different from other James Bond collectors.
Early copies from the UK hardback editions is hard to come by and cost a fortune. Many collectors by them and put them in boxes and maybe look at them from time to time.

I am actually reading the oldest Cape editions I have in my collection. The MOONRAKER hardback I am reading right now is a 1955 second impression.

So why am I not reading a modern paperback. Well first of all I wish to be certain that the text in the novels are like Ian Fleming wrote them. I am not sure if this goes for his books but other authors sometimes gets modernised by the estate to make the story more readable for a younger audience.

Another reason for reading the older prints is that they are as close to the 50´s and 60´s that I will ever come and it is something special about going to bed with an early edition of MOONRAKER. You are holding in a book released before the big James Bond bonanza ever took place.

It feels genuine in some way. Like going back in time. Like the difference between watching Dr. No on your TV or at the cinema.

What printing of the James Bond books do you read? Do you dare to read any of your high valued books or are they put away safely. Please comment below. I would love to hear it.

CASINO ROYALE signed first edition sold for £40.000

When CASINO ROYALE was released in 1953 it cost 10 shilling to buy and only 4 728 prints were produced.

On July 12 Sothebys London had a book auction containing six lots connected to James Bond author Ian Fleming. In the end only two of them got sold.

The first item to get sold was lot 159: Fleming, Ian CASINO ROYALE. JONATHAN CAPE, 1953. The book was estimated to sell for between £40.000 - £50.000.

The book was by Sothebys described as below:

8vo, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY FROM THE EARLY BOUND STOCK, INSCRIBED ON FRONT ENDPAPER ("To | Ralph. |We have now both | reduced our remainders | by one copy!"), together with note of explanation by recipient beneath ("I having told Ian, from the depths of my publishing experience, that he would be lucky if he made £200 out of this, his first thriller!! R.A."), original black cloth lettered in red on spine and with heart design on upper cover, some browning and spotting, head and foot of spine very slightly bumped.

Seeing these prices one can be sure that there will not be many of us fans who will own a true first edition of Casino Royale. Do you have one? 

I just dont understand this dust-wrapper?

I will never be able to afford a first edition of LIVE AND LET DIE from Jonathan Cape in 1954 since these sell for around £8 750. Or I can afford it but I would not be able to say to myself that I have control over my James Bond collecting and it would be hard to look my wife in her eyes afterwords. There is so much you can do with that amount of money.

But today's blog post is about the dust-wrapper for LIVE AND LET DIE. Since I have a second impression edition I thought that I might be able to buy a first edition without its dust-wrapper and then take the jacket from my second edition to make it complete and save some money wile doing so.

But on the backside of my dust jacket it says "second impression" and the wired thing is that it says so on the first edition as well and that is so strange?

Does the backside of LIVE AND LET DIE refer to Casino Royale being released as a second impression in time of the release for LIVE AND LET DIE? If so, why do they even mention it on the dust-wrapper?

And if you do know the answers to these questions can you also tell if the dust-wrapper is identical between the first edition, second state and the second impression?

Now if you have both the money and the need to spend £8 750 on a single book then you can buy the LIVE AND LET DIE first edition buy clicking here!

 

Happy Birthday to Tiffany Case, 60 today

It is not only Ester today it is also the birthday of Tiffany Case or more interestingly the birthday of Ian Flemings forth James Bond novel DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.

The book was first published on March 26 in 1956. The first edition was ha hardback edition from now famous Jonathan Cape and the cover was designed by Pat Marriott and the front page carried a drawing on the front page with a picture of Tiffany Case wearing a diamond neck less. On the back was a picture of Ian Fleming in his forties.

The first edition was printed in 12 500 copies and is now hard to obtain and sells for load of money.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER was also the first story that Fleming sold to The Daily Express to make into a comic strip.

Later in 1956 Pan Books produced a paperback version of the book and sold 68 000 copies before the end of that year.

Ian Fleming said this of Diamonds Are Forever in an interview with the Daily Express in 1956:

“I’ve put everything into this except the kitchen sink. Can you think of a plot about a kitchen sink for the next one? Otherwise I am lost.”

Happy Birthday DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER!

UK first edition

Jill St John as Tiffany Case in the 1971 DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

Swedish "Antiques Roadshow" is way of in valuating Fleming books

On this weeks Swedish version of Antiques Roadshow I was amazed that the section "Good, Better, Best" was covering something as rare in Sweden as Ian Fleming first editions. I do not know if this section is present on the British versions of the show but what it comes down to is that the public will see three objects and try to figure out which of the three is worth the most money.

According to the owner of the books and book expert Torgny Schunnesson one of them was worth 20 000 SEK (£1 600) the second one was worth 100 000 SEK (£8 000) and the third was worth 300 000 SEK (£24 000).

And then the public got to guess and most of them actually guest right without touching the books.

Now I was very curious to know more about these books since the evaluation was far higher the usual. But I got disappointed when the owner and said expert on the matter said that a first edition of ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE is worth 20 000 SEK (£1 600) since I bought my second first edition earlier this week in excellent condition and only paid 4 100 SEK (£330) for it. And that is a bit more then most of you would pay. You can currently find it on Ebay for 4 400 SEK £350 in fine condition.

The difference between the to LIVE AND LET DIE editions is that one of them is a true first edition and the second one is a second state version. the actual difference is very small. On the front flap of the dust jacket of the second state is says "Jacket design by the author and executed by Kenneth Lewis". According to the expert on Swedish television the version with the text is worth 100 000 SEK (£8 000) and the one without the above text is worth 300 000 SEK (£24 000).

Once again a quick search on Ebay tells you that this is not the case. The cheaper second state can be bought for 71 000 SEK (£5 666) and a true first edition can be bought for 135 000 SEK (£10 840). 

All in all the Swedish Antiques roadshow was off with an amazing 209 600 SEK (£16 800).

I would almost have paid to be there that day of recoding just to smack the expert on his fingers. But that would never have made it through the cutting room.

If you wish to see the program and this part of the show you can follow the link and then skip forward to 31:30 and then to37:00 to see this for your self.

I believe I will have to call my insurance company to raise my insurance after this ;0).

I almost had a THE SPY WHO LOVED ME first edition

I had four copies of the Jonathan Cape edition of the Ian Fleming novel THE SPY WHO LOVED ME but no actual first edition.

I also had Jon Gilbert fantastic book Ian Fleming: The Bibliography. A book in which you can read about all the Fleming releases in both Great Britain and America.

There I could find an exact documentation of the dust jacket for a true first edition and I was wondering if my fifth impression from 1963 that I bought for £12.50 a long time ago might have a dust jacket that looked exactly as the true first edition dust jacket.

This is what a true first edition dust jacket should have according to The Bibliography:

1. The rear panel prints opinions of Thunderball entitled "Verdicts of THE TIMES!, being seven reviews from newspapers whit the word "Times" in their title. CHECK!

2. Front flap text (aligned left) VIVIENNE MICHEL writes:...nineteen lines. After that it should say Jacket design by Richard Chooping, Dagger by Wilkinson Swords Ltd, (c) Ian Fleming 1962. It should also be priced at lower corner. CHECK!
3. The rear flap is entirely blank. CHECK!

4. All four corners are clipped by Jonathan Cape. CHECK!

Everything looked great so I decided to buy a Cape first edition of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and I got it out of Ebay for £52. A few days later I received it.
But then it hit me what I have read in The life of Ian Fleming by John Pearson. Fleming often complained that he did so little profit on his books. He always felt they were to cheap for the reader so the price often increased during this time.

Sadly I could not be more correct. After some investigation on the matter I found that a true first edition of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME cost 15s and a fifth edition one year later cost 16s. And I have a dust jacket that reads 16s. So I guess the hunt goes on for an affordable true first edition of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. So close but no cigar.

If you are also hunting for a First edition print of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME dont be cheated by a seller that says that their book is price clipped. Make sure that it says 15s. It would be so easy for me to price clip my book and make it look like a first edition.

PS. Today I have updated my sales page with an 1968 Airfix construction kit. It is being offered here!

It is burdensome to be a book collector

It is not always fun and games to collect books. Once in a wile I begin to ask myself what I am actually buying and why. I see myself often as an insane collector.

A sane James Bond fan would buy the James Bond books as cheaply as he can. Maybe an old used series of hard back versions (not first editions) that he could read over and over again when he felt the need.

But as a James Bond book collector. I must try to find the first edition and if I have it I will buy a new one if it is in better condition. I will also buy the same book over and over again if I am attracted to the cover design. As I have written before, I have over 30 versions of Flemings first novel Casino Royale. 

Below I can show you my latest catch and then you can decide if I am sane or insane.

When I was in London in December I talked to a book dealer who had many James Bond books and was offered NO DEALS MR.BOND in hardback in great condition for £20. I bought it right away along with a first edition of FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.
NO DEALS MR. BOND was the only John Gardner first edition I was missing but I was so happy that day that I did not notice that the book I actually bought was a second printing book club edition instead of a true first edition.

The differences between these two books are minimum. It is the logo on the spine (as you can see above) and the first edition have the price of £10:95 on the dust jacket and the book club version has no price.

The true differences is actually on only one of the pages. It is the page for the book publisher stating that this is a book club edition with its second printing.

Otherwise the book looks absolutely the same as the first edition.

But I was still not happy. I wanted a true first edition and as the old man said "Good things comes to those who wait".

The other week I finally found a true first edition on Ebay and I bought it for as little as  £7.58. A true bargain even cheaper then it was when it was released. I would easily have paid £40 for it.

No what is your verdict? Am I sane or insane? What do you collect?

My 30 different editions of CASINO ROYALE

I have quite a few James Bond book...

A few days back I gave the Facebook readers of The Ian Fleming Foundation the chance to decide what I was supposed to read after I had finished  reading THE LIFE OF IAN FLEMING. A book I have written a blog post about here.

I must be honest and say that I longed to read a book about the making about the James Bond films but you wanted something else. I had decided to read the James Bond novels by Fleming all over again. I must confess and say that must of them have I only read once and that was more then 20 years ago. At that time I also read them in Swedish loosing some of the prose of Fleming that I was not mature for.

So when the voting was done by the readers CASINO ROYALE stood as a clear winner and I started reading the book yesterday.

I have many different editions of Casino Royale including all Swedish editions. As you can see on the above photo I have four different copies of the Jonathan Cape "queen of spades edition" and the earliest of them is from 1957 and that is an new edition to my collection. The three others will soon be fore sale here on the blog or on Ebay (I will get back to that later)

Below you can see some of my Casino Royale book collection. All pictures are from the books of my own collection.

Witch is your favourite?
 

 

With more to come if the cover speaks to me!