Fantastic Sean Connery book covers

It was with deep sorrow every Bond fan across the globe learnt that the first (if not counting Barry Nelson in the 1954 version of Casino Royale), and to many the best James Bond, Sean Connery passed away on October 31th, 2020. He reached the age of 90 and had a very long and successful career from the day he signed on to play James Bond in Ian Fleming's DR. NO. 

To honor his memory I wanted to share some fantastic Ian Fleming book covers from Sweden. They were released during 1965 in a series called "Zebra special" and had all paintings of Sean Connery on the cover. The paintings were done by Yrjö Edelmann (1941-2016) and are just fantastic to look at. 

Below you can find the cover designs using Connery's likeness. 

Casino Royale 

 

Live and let die

Moonraker

Diamonds are forever

From Russia with love

Dr.No

Goldfinger

Thunderball

The Spy who loved me

Mr Big is the eighth villain to be released by Folio Society

Sadly I might just be the last blog on earth to report that The Folio Society has released their eighth James Bond Novel and this time it was LIVE AND LET DIE that was chosen.

I was supposed to report this as soon as I was allowed but suddenly life caught up with me and I just haven't had the time to write anything.

But this release was a bit different compare to the previous ones. The book itself was actually available to be ordered on Folio's website before embargo to write something was released. I have friends who had the book before the embargo ended and about one week before I could get hold of the book. So others beat me to it this time.

I can only guess that some sort of error made the book open for sale before the embargo closed.

But I do like that The Folio Society completely fooled me regarding what title they would release. I have always thought that LIVE AND LET DIE were to be released last since Folio have released that book earlier in 2007. It is always interesting to see what book will be released next.

As always, this book also contains superb drawings by Fay dalton. Eight of them. One of them actually look alot like the cover for US paperback released by Perma Books in June 1956 (See below).

The book is available for purchase at The Folio Society for £36.95

Illustration ©2019 Fay Dalton from The Folio Society edition of Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die       

Illustration ©2019 Fay Dalton from The Folio Society edition of Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die

Illustration ©2019 Fay Dalton from The Folio Society edition of Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die

Illustration ©2019 Fay Dalton from The Folio Society edition of Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die

Illustration ©2019 Fay Dalton from The Folio Society edition of Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die

Illustration ©2019 Fay Dalton from The Folio Society edition of Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die

US paperback released by Perma Books in June 1956 

Rare James Bond cover drafts has emerge

Artist Levente Szabo was commissioned by Vintage Classics last year (2017) to come up with three covers for their release of Casino Royale, Live and Let Die and Goldfinger. His covers was a huge success amongst fans and we are all hoping to see more books wearing his covers.

But on his website so other designs has appeared. They seems to be early drafts of what might have come.

below is his own words and close up's of his designs. Notice that they very a bit between different pictures. Click on them to show them bigger.

Since I truly enjoy designing the identity of whole book series', this personal project was
an experiment to produce bold and engaging covers for Ian Fleming's James Bond novels.

Although there are seventeen original novels I restricted myself to three as a proof of concept.

The protagonist is such a well known pop culture icon with so many iterations that I felt I should focus on the villians — Le Chiffre, Mr Big and Auric Goldfinger. 

 — instead of the famous6 a

The layouts were pretty close to the final versions from the start, the only trouble I had was with Goldfinger's composition.
 

 

 Casino Royale's themes: France, Vesper Lynd, casino, baccarat, golf, SMERSH

 

Live and Let Die's themes: Florida, Jamaica, voodoo, 17th-century gold coins, SMERSH

 

Goldfinger's themes: Fort Knox, Rolls-Royce, canasta, golf, SMERSH

Drawings from Levente Szabo's website. 

The James Bond Vintage Classics are here

Yesterday a package arrived from Great Britain sent by Penguin Vintage Classics. I was happy to notice that it contained the three James Bond novels by Ian Fleming that they have published with a release date set for today, November 2, 2017.

Many of us were amazed by the cover design for these books by artist Levente Sabó. The illustrations are very cleaver containing a face with high points from that very novel. For instance on James Bonds face on the Casino Royale Cover you can see the car chase from that story.

So what about the size of the books. I did find them a bit small but they are not as small as the Viking/Penguin series from 2002 and not as big as the Penguin 2008 series.

I knew that they would contain an introduction by John Cork but they also contains photos and copies of letters of the book you have just read. This was a great opportunity they had here but sadly they used pictures of Fleming that are very common and the letters were all in need of some Photoshopping to make them much easier to read.

The books are still highly collectable and I would continue to collect them if they made more in the series. For the first time reader they must be a treat.

The suggested retail price is £12.99 but at amazon.co.uk they only cost £9.09

If you want to make sure the books are first editions make sure they bare the serial number 13579108642. The digit 1 in this series of numbers stands for a first printing.

To my knowledge these books can only be bought in the UK. IF you live elsewhere you need to buy them online and then I suggest Amazon.co.uk.

You can order Casino Royale here.
You can order Live and let die here.
You can order Goldfinger here.

The spine

Compared to other recent releases the Vintage Classics 2017 are quite small in size.

The back of the book with great quotes but I am still missing out on a picture of Ian Fleming.

News about the upcoming VINTAGE release in UK

We were many that got exited when it was announced that Vintage classic in the UK would re-release three of the original James Bond novels by Ian Fleming.

I think we all can agree upon the fact that the thing that got us exited was the marvellous covers by the graphic designer Levente Szabó. They are a real treat to look at.

But it is of course a bit strange that Vintage classics will release the first and the second book and then make a big jump to the eight book.

The hard core collectors were also interested in the fact if this will be a limited print run like the 2008 and 2008 hardback series.

So I decided to ask Vintage all about this since I had managed to get in contact with an employee at their marketing department and the answer was short but straight.

At the moment there are no plans to release the other books in the series but if they change their mind there will be an announcement.

There will not be a limited print run. They will continue to print these books as long as there is an demand for them. The true hardcore collector might therefore wish to get your hands on a first edition that should be marked with a last digit 1 in the numbers section on the first page.

What is your gut feeling or hope for? Do you want more of these books in the series? Please comment below.

 

 

 

Added to the collection: Four very rare chinease James Bond novels

Added to my collection of James Bond books from around the world with appealing covers are the below for James Bond novels from both Ian Fleming and John Gardner.

The titles are Live and let die, Goldfinger, Role of Honour, For your eyes only and Nobody lives forever (spelled "for ever"). A funny thing about these books is that For your eyes only and Nobody lives forever are both put together in one book. This is the first time I have ever come across a collection of James Bond novels were both the work of Ian Fleming and John Gardner are in the same book.

The one thing I have trouble finding out with these James Bond stories are if they are legit and royalties have been paid out or if they are pirated.

Below are pictures of the cover artwork for the different books.

 

Live and let die by Ian Fleming

Nobody lives forever by John Gardner & For Your eyes only  by Ian Fleming

Role of Honour by John Gardner

Goldfinger by Ian Fleming

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