Casino Royale's 65th birthday

In conjunction with the birthday of Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel Casino Royale I have updated my blogpost with my collection of Casino Royale books.

65 years ago today saw the release of Casino Royale and the book has sold many millions of copies since then.

Due to this you can head off to this blog post and see 29 different Casino Royale books that I have in my collection.

Hip Hip Hurrah! 

Are you James Bond's biggest fan?

From tomorrow morning UK time Penguin Random house will run a competition for all James Bond
fans in the United Kingdom.
The competition will be held over at Dead Good Books and you can take part by following this link.

The competition ends on April 30th at 11.59pm so don't wait with your entry.

The winner will get to stay at The savoy Hotel in London and will be given an advanced copy of Anthony Horowitz forthcoming James Bond novel FOREVER AND A DAY.

As I am writing this the link in currently dead. therefore I suggest that you come back tomorrow (April 13th at 10:00am when the competition is open. I just wanted to give you a heads up as quickly as possible.

So what is the reason for the competition starting of tomorrow. Well 65 years ago on April 13, Ian Fleming's first novel Casino Royale was released. The book that started it all. And the book that now will become the sequel to Anthonys new book.

An interesting James Bond Pan Books advert

I was looking through Instagram and the hashtag #IanFleming and I found an interesting advert for the tie in edition of From Russia With Love from Pan Books that was released in 1964.

This advert seems to come from some sort of book dealership magazine and seems to focus on the Australian market.

The ad says that the book has already sold more then one million copies. and From Russia With Love is one out of six books to ever have reached that high. In other words Ian Fleming's From Russia with love was selling like crazy.

The series of nine Fleming books is also said to be Pan Books best sold series as of 1964.

Pan Books are ending the advert with suggesting that the Australian booksellers will order displays and promotional material to increase sales of their books. These kind of displays should off course be very interesting for us the fans to own today.

 

I guess you fell for my "april fools day" joke?

I uploaded this blog post yesterday as you might have seen. In other words it was uploaded on "April fools' day"
I have always loved April fools day as long as I can remember. I even managed to talk my wife into keeping our first born inside her belly until April 2.

So yesterday's blog post was about me receiving a very early copy of Anthony Horowitz second James Bond novel titled Forever and a day.

This is how I made the cover that help me trick many of you.

First of all I went to Anthony Horowitz official website were I found a quite high resolution JPEG of the black cover.

Then I used the the same font/text on the spine. Just like they had done on The trigger Mortis edition. Then there were time for the logos of Ian Fleming Publications and Jonathan Cape. This was tricky because I only found them in black so I had to reverse them into white.

On the back I needed a fresh photo if Anthony in quite good resolution. Sadly I did not have much time and I did not know to much about the story line and therefore it was hard composing a good back side. I might revisit the backside once I have read the book.

Then I created both the left and right inside flips. On the left is text about James Bond and the UK price at £18.99 with the text In UK only.  On the right is some text about author Anthony and all his earlier success'. There are some links to his and Ian Fleming Publications Twitter account. Last but not least I added that the cover design comes from Penguin Random house but the compilation of the dust jacket is done by me.

Then there was time to find the correct paper, to use ordinary paper did not work, it had to be glossy. I decided to print four covers and they ended up costing me £40. I decided to cut them myself to save £20.

So there you have it. I love cover design! It is more then half of the joy when collecting
books. Why would I buy a book for the twentieth time if it was not for the great cover design. Maybe I should learn more and change my line of work. Might be a thrill.

The blog post was liked by Anthony Horowitz on Twitter. I am quite curious if he fell for the trick as so many others.  

I wish all readers a Happy Easter!

Had to find the correct paper

How to follow Anthony and IFP.

Correct price

Here is the final product.

The blog post got a like from Anthony Horowitz so I guess the trick had his blessing. It was also liked by Nicolas Suszczyk. 

An amazing James Bond gift in my easter egg

The Easter bunny came by with a truly amazing present this year. Who would ever have thought that hardback book would fit in a classic Sweden egg made out of paper.

The book I received is not any old book. It is the sought after second James Bond novel by Anthony Horowitz titled Forever and a day.

This print does not cover the said to be boat/bullet cover that was revealed a few weeks back. This book has a cover that comes from the marketed only and not to be used design. This makes it even harder to find amongst collectors.

It does not say "proof copy" anywhere on the book so I guess it is not a proof either. I just cant figure out what it is.

I do like the were dark done of the cover even if the font is a bit to Skyfall and therefore already used.

The book has 304 pages and that's the exact same number of pages as Trigger Mortis have.

I have just started reading the book and it feels just as fresh and great as Trigger Mortis.

Since I am Swedish there is only one thing I am hoping for with Forever and a day and that is the mention of James Bonds trip to Stockholm (capital of Sweden) to become a double 0. I will just have to read on and wait.

Forever and a day is released on 31 may in UK.

  

 

 

 

Please Note: There is a follow up to this blog post here!

Added to my collection: A signed dust jacket.

Back in 1957 Richard W. Chopping was offered to produce his first dust jacket for the upcoming book release of Ian Fleming's From Russia With Love. The cover was designed as a collaboration between Fleming and Chopping were Fleming simply told Chopping what he wanted and he drew it.

The collaboration between Ian Fleming and Richard W. Chopping would last for nine upcoming book's only missing out on Dr. No. Chopping was even commissioned to do the cover art for John Gardner's first Bond novel Licence Renewed.

Sadly Chopping was never satisfied with his collaboration with Ian Fleming. Ian apparently always sent kind notes to his artist but Chopping felt that he was a big part of Flemings success and was not paid enough for all the work he did. If I do remember correctly he got an increase around £50 for every new book cover he did.

Now I do not collect autographs especially of the net. And I dare to say that others should not either. 90% of them are fake. But I did stubble upon this signed On Her Majesty's Secret Service dust jacket by Richard W Chopping. It was framed nice and clean. The signature is in a ink ball pen and it was sold from Australia. It cost me £100 and I dont believe this to be fake. The market for this is way to small and the very good framing must have cost £30-40 and then the dust jacket who is excellent must cost £50-100.

I am quite happy whit my new addition to the collection. Cant be many fans who have this.

To read more about the collaboration between Ian Fleming and Richard Chopping you can read this obituary.

Richard Chopping at his studio working on The Spy who Loved Me.  

I have removed the "Copping" part of the signature for no counterfeits to appear on the market. 

Yet another CASINO ROYALE edition to be released

In just a few weeks now Anthony Horowitz second James Bond novel FOREVER AND A DAY will be released in the UK. It will be the first James Bond book to take place before all the others, even CASINO ROYALE.

Therefore Ian Fleming Publications together with Vintage UK are releasing Casino Royale as a
paperback only and this time with a forward by Anthony Horowitz himself.

The cover design is said to compliment the style of Forever and a day and play on violence, card play and shattered romance.

Last year Vintage UK released Casino Royale in a hardback edition together with Live and let die and Goldfinger. If that series is set to be full is yet to be seen.

Below is the cover design for Casino Royale.

Danny Boyle WILL direct BOND 25

I had another blog post planned for tonight but it will have to wait since it today was confirmed from the horses mouth that Danny Boyle WILL direct the next James Bond film due in the fall of 2019. He will also be part of the scriptwriting and therefore this post still can be uploaded on this blog.

As many of us know Danny Boyle worked with Daniel Craig as James Bond during the Olympic opening of 2012.

He told Metro US yesterday evening a hole lot about his working plans for Bond 25.

"We are working on a script right now," 

"We've got an idea. John Hodge, the screenwriter, and I have got this idea, and John is writing it at the moment. And it all depends on how it turns out. It would be foolish of me to give any of it away,"  

Boyle hopes to start shooting James Bond 25 by the year's end. Before that, he and Love Actually screenwriter Richard Curtis are teaming for an untitled music-themed comedy set up at Universal that the studio is eyeing for an early-summer shoot, if the casting can come together.

"And it all depends on that, really. I am working on a Richard Curtis script at the moment. We hope to start shooting that in six or seven weeks. Then Bond would be right at the end of the year. But we are working on them both right now," the Hollywood director said to Metro US.

I actually met Danny Boyle and had dinner with him in Sweden back in the year 2000 when he was promoting THE BEACH. He was very kind and polite back then.

My personal hope is that Bond 25 will not be a follow up to SPECTRE. That would not create an opportunity for Danny Boyle to show what he is capable of.

 

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. 

   

Buy your signed edition of FOREVER AND A DAY here!

It is just weeks before the second James Bond novel from Anthony Horowitz is out for sale in the UK titled FOREVER AND A DAY. The official date is set to be 31 of may, changed from previous August.

I guess its due to the talk on blogs like this one and The Book Bond and forums that The Ian Fleming Publications now has started to make an event out of the cover design for the next book. I have no memory of this happening to older continuation novels in the series.

So what about my two cents for the cover for this novel. Well I am that kind of guy who loves all things old with a history to it. Therefore I feel that this cover is to modern for my taste. My personal guess is that the UK paperback of TRIGGER MORTIS sold really well with its modern cover and therefore Ian Fleming Publications felt safe to go with a modern cover more then a safer bet like the one they used for the hardback of Trigger Mortis. I need to mention here that my wife who reads 1-2 books a week says I am not modern enough and that she likes the cover a lot.

The writer Anthony Horowitz is satisfied with his cover, writing on twitter a few days ago that "I think this is a fantastic cover. So glad that it’s out there in its entirety".

So all collectors starts thinking about where to order it from and is it even possible to get it signed? And the answer to that as you may have guessed is yes. If you order it from British book chain Waterstones on their website you can get it for £18.99 signed. Otherwise you can order it from Amazon UK for a far less £12.91

I ordered the signed edition!

If you have not seen the text on the backside of the upcoming novel you can read it below and get a small "Mofassa" chill.

M laid down his pipe and stared at it tetchily. 'We have no choice. We're just going to bring forward this other chap you've been preparing. But you didn't tell me his name.' 'It's Bond, sir,' the Chief of Staff replied. 'James Bond.'

And below is the small synopsis for the story.

The sea keeps its secrets. But not this time. One body. Three bullets. 007 floats in the waters of Marseille, killed by an unknown hand.
It's time for a new agent to step up.
Time for a new weapon in the war against organised crime.
It's time for James Bond to earn his licence to kill.
This is the story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera.

 The book has 336 pages.

I have uploaded the short trailer for the book on the blogs YouTube channel.