Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Fleming, Ian. Casino Royale.. Jonathan Cape, London, 1953.
Price: US$40000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of the first novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Boldly signed by the author âfrom Ian Flemingâ on a card mounted to the front free endpaper. Casino Royale was written by Ian Fleming in Jamaica over a period of around two months, largely from his own experiences and imagination; he also devised the artwork for the cover. "Within the first few pages Fleming had introduced most of Bond's idiosyncrasies and trademarks," which included his looks, his Bentley and his smoking and drinking habits. The full details of Bond's martini were kept until chapter seven of the book and Bond eventually named it "The Vesper", after Vesper Lynd" (Andrew Lycett). It has been filmed twice as a feature film, the first being the 1967 spoof starring David Niven, and later as the twenty-first official Bond film starring Daniel Craig as James Bond. Near fine in a near fine first issue dust jacket without the Sunday Times review printed on the front flap, priced at â10s. 6d. net". with some restoration along upper and lower edges. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
FLEMING, Ian. Casino Royale. Jonathan Cape, 1953, 1953.
Price: US$48456.46 + shipping
Description: Octavo. Original black boards, spine lettered in red, red heart device on front cover. With dust jacket. Housed in a custom blue quarter morocco solander box. Edges foxed, sporadically affecting margins, contents clean. A very good copy in like, gently foxed jacket, not price-clipped, couple of nicks and short closed tears, a bright and sharp example. First edition, second impression, presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "To Tanis and Teddy Read and burn! from The Author. Aoüt 1953". The married couple Tanis and Teddy resided with the Flemings at their Goldeneye estate the following year for, in Ann Fleming's words, "twelve interminable days" (quoted in Lycett). The endless flirting between Tanis Eva Bulkeley Guinness (1908-1993) and Charles "Teddy" Edward Harold John Phillips (1907-2006) proved to be a nuisance to Ian Fleming; in early 1954, attempting to write Moonraker (1955), his concentration was frequently interrupted by their pet names of "Bear" and "Lion". "At one stage Ian was driven to announce at the luncheon table that he and Ann were going away for a short while, and that their visitors could, of course, continue to use the house. Since Ann had not been informed of this ploy, it caused some embarrassment. Ann had to produce some clever social footwork, which only resulted in Ian accusing her of being a traitor" (Lycett). Following this confrontation, temperatures cooled; the Flemings were not driven out of their own home, and Tanis and Teddy would subsequently offer their hosts two bottles of whisky as an apology. Interestingly, Teddy was a relative of Ian Fleming's intimate friend Ivar Bryce, who was instrumental in finding for Fleming the Goldeneye estate, on Jamaica's north shore. Fleming wrote the Bond novels with the assistance of an unusual clause in his contract as foreign news manager of Kemsley Newspapers: Fleming would take January and February as his annual paid leave, during which time he worked on his novels at Goldeneye. Casino Royale, the first of the Bond novels, was first published earlier the same year. This copy is from the significant Ian Fleming collection of Martin Schøyen (b.1940), with his bookplate. Schøyen's private collection of manuscripts, which span all cultures and all time periods, is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. Gilbert A1a(2); The Schøyen Collection No. 3. Andrew Lycett, Ian Fleming: The Man Who Created James Bond, 2012; Edward Abel Smith, Ian Fleming's Inspiration: The Truth Behind the Books, 2020, p. 159.
Seller: Adrian Harrington Ltd, PBFA, ABA, ILAB, Royal Tunbridge Wells, KENT, United Kingdom
FLEMING, IAN. Casino Royale. London Jonathan Cape 1953, 1953.
Price: US$75000.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition, First Printing, First State Dust Jacket. British mystery and thriller novelist Hammond InnesÕs copy with his engraved bookplate which is hand-signed by him in blue ink affixed to the front pastedown. A little foxing to the first two blank leaves and to the two rear blank leaves, a very faint foxing hint to the outer edges (extremely minor) otherwise near fine clean copy with the cloth fresh and the red stamping very bright in a near fine bright dust jacket with two minute slivers of almost undetectable interior reinforcement by an expert paper conservationist at the top and bottom of spine. The printed colors are bright. Enclosed in a custom clamshell box. Hammond Innes CBE (1913-1998) was a contemporary of Ian Fleming, and whereas Fleming wrote spy thrillers, InnesÕs thrillers often dealt with the sea. His most famous novel is The Wreck of the Mary Deare which was made into a film in 1959 starring Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston.
Seller: James Pepper Rare Books, Inc., ABAA, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A.
Fleming, Ian. Casino Royale.. Jonathan Cape, London, 1953.
Price: US$98000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of the first novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Boldly signed by Ian Fleming on the front free endpaper. From the library of Mrs. Bowker. This example was given by Fleming to his his char-lady. Near fine in a near fine first state dust jacket (without the Sunday Times review on the inner front flap) with some professional restoration to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Casino Royale was written by Ian Fleming in Jamaica over a period of around two months, largely from his own experiences and imagination; he also devised the artwork for the cover. "Within the first few pages Fleming had introduced most of Bond's idiosyncrasies and trademarks," which included his looks, his Bentley and his smoking and drinking habits. The full details of Bond's martini were kept until chapter seven of the book and Bond eventually named it "The Vesper", after Vesper Lynd" (Andrew Lycett). It has been filmed twice as a feature film, the first being the 1967 spoof starring David Niven, and later as the twenty-first official Bond film starring Daniel Craig as James Bond.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$190595.42 + shipping
Description: First editions of all fourteen James Bond books, each in their original [first state] dustwrapper, without repair or restoration. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the limited edition, numbered and signed by Ian Fleming. The Man with the Golden Gun, is signed by and from the collection of the dustwrapper artist Richard Chopping. Together with six of the earliest continuation novels: Kingsley Amis' The James Bond Dossier and Colonel Sun (as Robert Markham); John Gardner's Licence Renewed; For Special Services (signed); Icebreaker (signed); Nobody Lives For Ever. A stunning set, a full catalogue description for each book is available on request. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.
Seller: LUCIUS BOOKS (ABA, ILAB, PBFA), York, United Kingdom
Price: US$613781.85 + shipping
Description: An exciting collection of 17 books, with 10 of the collection signed and inscribed by Ian Fleming, as well as later (posthumous) titles signed by Sir Roger Moore, the ornithologist James Bond and actress Maud Adams (Octopussy). Comprising: CASINO ROYALE: A first edition, first printing published by Cape in 1953. A near fine book without inscriptions. A little light pushing to the spine tips. No foxing. A lovely copy. SIGNED and INSCRIBED to the front endpaper by the Author - 'To Lisl/Despite whose loving/care this book was/written/X/Ian/. In a very good, unclipped first issue dust wrapper with no overprinting to the front flap of the wrapper. Some light chipping to the head of the spine. A little light handling marks to the rear panel. Ian Fleming first met Lisl Popper (then Lisa Jokl) at age nineteen during the "Golden time" at Kitzbuhel in Austria in 1926. She was eight years older than Fleming, and worked in a local cafe. Fleming soon became acquainted with Lisl and her friends at the cafe and her simple outdoor lifestyle appealed to Fleming immensely - skiing in winter, swimming and tennis in the summer. Another physical activity - sex - kept Fleming and Lisl very active as lovers and some years later he commented that despite the air of sexual liberation, he did show some reservation about the manner in which Austrian girls threw themselves at his young English body. Lisl and Fleming became lifelong friends, and in 1960, Fleming signed a copy of his latest James Bond instalment "For Your Eyes Only" (A collection of five short stories) to Lisl with the personal inscription "noch ein paar Eier fr Ostern!" ("yet another pair of eggs for Easter"). It is perhaps no coincidence that the female character in the fifth short story in the collection is named Lisl Baum. Upon Fleming's death in 1964, he left Lisl £500 in his will. Lisl later said that "All the things said about Ian -- his gloom, his melancholy, his solitariness -- frankly amaze me. To all of us who knew him in Kitzbuhel he was exactly the opposite -- Gay, care-free, terribly happy, the most exciting and vital sort of person. Not like an Englishman at all". An extremely important association copy. LIVE AND LET DIE: A first edition, first printing published by Cape in 1954. Inscribed by the Author on the front free end-paper: "To/ MW/ The faithful &/ true!/ from/ The Author". With an additional ownership inscription and date (1954) of M J Williams on the front paste-down. The book is accompanied by the correct first state dust wrapper without the artist's (Kenneth Lewis] credit on the front flap. Correctly priced at 10s.6d. net to both the front and rear flaps. There are a few very small internal neat repairs. Minor creasing to the edges and corners with a little light loss on the corners. Some light soiling to the rear panel as is usual. Muriel Williams (often referred to as MJW or MW) was Fleming's Assistant at Kemsley newspapers when he was the Foreign Manager. She was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Department in particular liaison with the "Stringers" who, hailing from far flung parts of the World, submitted stories for inclusion in the Kemsley Publications (including the Sunday Times). The dust wrapper artist, Kenneth Lewis (who worked in the Art Department at Kemsley), remembers her well, commenting on her flat-chested appearance, strong and forceful personality, her use of bright red lipstick and that Fleming deferred to her. Fleming inscribed several of his other early novels to her, including Casino Royale and Moonraker. This book has been in private hands for many years. MOONRAKER: A first edition, first printing published by Cape in 1955. A near fine book, inscribed by the author to the front end paper. The inscription reads - TO JOYCE / THE HAPPY GHOST / FROM / IAN FLEMING / 1955. Joyce Emerson (1921-1979), a journalist by trade, who worked at The Sunday Times during the 1950's and 60's. She befriended Fleming whilst working on the 'Atticus' team alongside him. Atticus was a weekly society gossip column, which Fleming joined in the autumn of 1953 (during the release time of his first novel 'Casino Royale'). As the inscription suggests, Emerson would (almost certainly) have ghost-written many of the pieces carrying his name. The book is free of any owner names or inscriptions, with the correctly printed SHOOT found to page 10. The dust wrapper is in very good condition. There is the usual fading to the red flames found to the spine. Correctly priced at 10s.6d net to both the front and rear flaps. An incredibly scarce title to acquire, signed and inscribed by the author and more so as the inscription includes Fleming's full name as well as the year of publication. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER: A first edition, first printing published by Cape in 1956. A very good+ book without inscriptions. Some spotting to the prelims. Slight fading to the spine title. In a very good unclipped wrapper which has benefitted from some restoration to the bottom of the spine which is evident internally. Some rubbing and wear to the spine tips and corners. A little light soiling to the rear panel. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE: A first edition, first printing published by Jonathan Cape in 1957. A very good book without inscriptions. Bound in the original black boards with silver titles on spine. Red rose and metallic gun to the front board. In the rare dust wrapper. The book has a little spotting within and some wear to the boards and edges. Sporadic spotting to the contents, with minor creasing to the rear board and little cracking to the rear pastedown. The dust wrapper is unclipped and original to the book. Some shallow v-shape loss to the spine ends. Exceptionally rare inscribed. The book is inscribed with the Author's signed presentation inscription to the front endpaper, 'To R. Singleton-Ward/ In (I hope)/Gratitude/ Ian Fleming/ 1957'/ The recipient Richard Singleton-Ward. Singleton-Ward was born in Droitwich at the turn of the century
Seller: John Atkinson Books ABA ILAB PBFA, Harrogate, United Kingdom