Ian Fleming: Bust sold for £1250

In October 2019 a bust of Ian Fleming was offered at auction by Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers. The bust sold for £1000 plus 25% commission coming to an end price of £1250. 

The bust was first used on the cover artwork for John Pearson's Fleming biography “The Life of Ian Fleming” (Jonathan Cape, 1966). It was then reproduced in small numbers for distribution to the larger book shops across Great Britain, to be used as window decoration when promoting both the biography and Fleming's own James Bond novels. The size of the bust is 52 cm. Not only was the bust seen on the first edition of the biography but also on the book club version (The companion book club 1966). 

 

Very few of these beautiful plaster busts have survived, and those that have usually need some sort of restoration of the gold paint and possible plaster repair too. 

 

When I first saw the bust on the cover of “The Life of Ian Fleming” I felt I would do anything to own it. As I have shown in another blog post (click the link) I am now indeed fortunate to own two of them.

 

It’s nice to discover they have increased in value over the years: they are so worth it. If you are able to buy one you definitely should. 

 

PLEASE NOTE: English is my second language so please excuse any small errors in translation.

When the auction house Christies was selling one back in 2007 they described the lot as written below.

FLEMING, Ian (1908-1964)--After Simone PANCHAUD DE BOTTOMES. 'Ian Fleming'. A cast metal bust finished in gold-painted plaster with initials 'SPB', executed c.1966 after Panchaud de Bottomes' original conceived in c.1931, 520mm high (some minor surface chipping and old repairs). Provenance: The Times Bookshop (purchased upon its closure). A RARE BUST OF FLEMING AFTER THE ORIGINAL BY THE MOTHER OF HIS FIANCéE MONIQUE PANCHAUD DE BOTTOMES, probably produced to publicise John Pearson's biography of Fleming. Fleming met Monique Panchaud de Bottomes at a ball in Geneva in autumn 1930, while he was a student at Geneva University. She was 'a slim, dark-haired local beauty' (A. Lycett Ian Fleming, London: 1995, p.45), from Vich in the Canton of Vaud, some 15 miles from Geneva, and 'she was impressed by [Fleming's] intelligence, charm and sensitivity ... He found her chic, cultured and amusing, the very essence of a modern French-speaking girl. Before long they were inseparable' (loc. cit.). By the summer of 1931 they considered themselves unofficially engaged, and Fleming would spend most weekends at the Panchaud de Bottomes' chateau, where the original of this bust by Monique's mother, Simone Panchaud de Bottomes, was sculpted in the early 1930s. However, Fleming's mother was strongly opposed to the engagement, and brought all possible pressure to bear on him -- emotional, professional, and financial -- and eventually the engagement was broken off by Fleming in 1933. Fleming felt bitter and guilty about the ending of the relationship: 'after this he would never dream of marrying anyone. "I'm going to be quite bloody-minded about women from now on ... I'm just going to take what I want without any scruples at all"' (J. Pearson The Life of Ian Fleming, London: 1966, p. 57), and was thought by his friends to continue to pine for Monique. Certainly, her name and background were used by Fleming some thirty years later in the 'James Bond' novel You Only Live Twice (London: 1964), in which Bond's mother is described as Monique Delacroix, from the Canton of Vaud. This bust is one of a small group that was probably produced to publicise Pearson's biography of Fleming, which uses a photograph of one on the dustwrapper; only a small number are thought to have been made, and few survive.

       

FLEMING - THE MAN WHO WOULD BE BOND

While the rest of the word are home locked I have had surgery. I live in Sweden and we do not home lock the country during Covid-19. After the surgery I am needed to stay at home for a few days. I have some books to get sorted and some tv-series I want to see.

I decided to see FLEMING - THE MAN WHO WOULD BE BOND for a second time. To be honest it felt as poor this time as it did the first time. It would be wrong to complain on Dominic Coppers appearance but he just don't look or feel the part. Maybe when he talks to his mother you can feel the deprest Fleming and the Fleming who always receives complaints by his mother. But this might just be because Lesley Manville does an better acting job.

Lara Pulver does a great job playing the cold Ann O´neill just like she did a great job playing Irene Adler in SHERLOCK.

When it comes to the story it feels like a lot of it is new to me and therefore either is fake or parts of Flemings life that I have never hear of. Rear Admiral Godfrey has a Second officer Monday played to be some sort of Miss Moneypenny and even have a hairstyle just like Louis Maxwell.

A nice touch is that it seems like they have used the correct exteriors for Flemings address on 22B Ebury street. This is just a few meters from were the Moonraker novel took place.

What is your take on FLEMING - THE MAN WHO WOULD BE BOND. Did you like it? Do you have the series in your collection? What changes or inserted scenes would you have wanted to see?

Did you know that John Pearson who wrote THE LIFE OF IAN FLEMING IN 1966 was a consultant on this tv-series.

More to read:

Title sequence for FLEMING - The man behind Bond

What a great book I am currently reading!

You can buy your copy of FLEMING - THE MAN WHO WOULD BE BOND
on DVD and Bluray by clicking here!

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 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!

The one time James Bond went to Sweden

Many of the worlds James Bond fans often get a visit from 007 either in the novels or the films. If you are British then you know that James Bond is your guy, doing all the dirty work for your queen and country.

If you are Swedish, like me, then you do not have that connection. James Bond has never gone to Sweden in any film and probably never will. You see the films only take place in countries and cities that MGM and EON Productions can benefit from. Countries with big amount of inhabitants that can lead to big box office sales when the film is released. A clear example of this is the car chase in SPECTRE that was set in Rom and the pre title sequence for the same film set in Mexico city.

No in Sweden there only live 10 million people so I am (sadly) quite certain that a Bond film will never take place here.

But 007 has been to Sweden once in the books. It was actually his mission here in Stockholm, a few meters from my day job in Old Town that Ian Fleming decided that James Bond should assassin his second victim. A mission that would give him his so famous double 0 status.

Ian Fleming tells the short story in the first novel Casino Royale on page 163.

"The next time in Stockholm wasn't so pretty. I had to kill a Norwegian who was doubling against us for the Germans. He'd managed to get two of our men captured - probably bumped off for all I know. For various reasons it had to be an absolutely silent job. I chose the bedroom of his flat and a knife. And well, he just didn't die very quickly
For those two jobs I was awarded a Double 0 number in the Service".

And that is it. That is the only time James Bond has been in Sweden. The above episode in Stockholm was later picked up in John Pearson's excellent James Bond book called James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007. In that book the assassination by James Bond in Old Town, Stockholm, is a hole chapter. The only problem is that Pearson writes that Bond goes in to a bakery and buys a peace of a Smorgasbord. The problem is that a Smorgasbord is nothing you can buy a peace of. A smorgasbord is a table full a food that you can choose from. Just like a buffet.

In the 1980 when John Garner started to write the James Bond novels he blessed 007 with a new car. A Swedish SAAB 900 TURBO. But that's another blog post later on. 

A Swedish Smorgasbord

What a great book I am currently reading!

I am not a quick reader. As you might have noticed on my spelling I have a mild version of dyslexia. Therefore I am extra happy when I have finished a book and can start on a new one. Most people seems to enjoy the ending of a book but for some reason I enjoy the beginning of books the most.

Anyhow, I finished reading Trigger Mortis a few days back and decided to jump right into THE LIFE OF IAN FLEMING by John Pearson. Pearson was Ian Flemings personal assistant when Fleming worked at the British newspaper The Times.

The book was published in the UK in 1966 by Jonathan Cape and was also released as a book club edition that same year. In the US it was released as a paperback with the different title ALIAS JAMES BOND - THE LIFE OF IAN FLEMING. Trying off course to take advantage of the James Bond heydays taking place at that time.
I will not reread this book but apparently the book had to be changed after the Jonathan Cape first edition was released since Thunderball Producer Kevin McClory alleged that parts of the biography were untrue regarding the novel and film rights to Thunderball.

I do enjoy this book a lot. I thought that since it came out in 1966 I would have a hard time with the English language but it works fine to read even for a foreigner.

This is a typical book that I would only collect a first edition, read it, and then dont collect further editions. But I really like the US cover design and the UK book club editions. If you wish to buy one of these versions they are all available on EBay and do not cost much compared to others. Click HERE for a EBay link. Just make sure to get your hands on a first edition of the book.

THE LIFE OF IAN FLEMING was such a great book that John Pearson was offered to write a James Bond novel in 1972. In 1973 the fictional biography:  James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 was released. I read that book earlier this year and I absolutely loved it. If you have not read it, you should. Its great but a hole new blog post in itself.