[AMIS, Kingsley (1922-1995)] TANNER, Lt-Col. William 'Bill'. The Book Of Bond, Or Every Man His Own 007 (Writing as Bill Tanner). London: Jonathan Cape, 1965, 1965.

Price: US$225.10 + shipping

Description: [James Bond] FIRST EDITION, bibliographer's copy. Small octavo (18 x 14cm), pp.111; [1]. Publisher's black cloth, gilt endpapers. Illustrated throughout. With Raymond Hawkey-designed 'reversible' book-jacket for work in the field; the pictorial dust-wrapper can be rapidly disguised as a bible. Price clipped, else a clean, fine copy. An unusual piece of Bondiana. Bill Tanner is a fictional character in the James Bond novel series, who holds the position of MI6 Chief of Staff; Fleming reveals that he is James Bond's closest friend in the service, and he was a regular character in the later continuation series by John Gardner. In 1965, Kingsley Amis wrote 'The Book of Bond' as a tongue-in-cheek manual for prospective secret agents, illustrated with examples from Fleming's novels. For this work, Amis used the pseudonym "Lt. Colonel William ('Bill') Tanner". From the collection of Ian Fleming bibliographer Otto Penzler, purchased by ourselves at Swann Auctions in 2010, with a pencil note to that effect signed by his bookseller friend and colleague Jon Gilbert. BMC No.1 p.4-13 'Fleming and Bond; Related Titles'. Ian Fleming The Bibliography pp.634, 644.

Seller: Adrian Harrington Ltd, PBFA, ABA, ILAB, Royal Tunbridge Wells, KENT, United Kingdom