Artunderwraps

First Edition Prices, Values and Auction Results

Immortalized as a film starring Roger Moore, Ian Fleming's The Spy Who Loved Me has a plot that deviates from the popular movie. Fleming was disapproving of the plot changes, but he ultimately agreed to allow use of the title despite the transformed story. The tenth book in the James Bond series, it strays from the conventional Fleming style in that its main character and narrator is a female, Vivienne Michel.  Michel, working at a remote motel, is harassed by two unsavory characters, villains Sol Horror and Sluggsy Morant, when Bond enters in deus ex machina fashion. First editions were published by Jonathan Cape (London) in 1962 and a copy in near fine condition with dust jacket has sold at auction for $500-$650. The first American edition was published by Viking Press in 1962 and good copies sell at auction for $100-$150.

We collected a sample of 17 auction results of Fleming, Ian's The Spy Who Loved Me from 3 different auction houses. The lowest overall price realized in our sample was $120 and the highest overall price realized was $660. The overall average price was $343 and the median price realized for the book was $353. There were 2 auctions (22%) with a price realized below the low estimate, 4 auctions (44%) exceeding the high estimates, and 3 auctions (33%) within the range of the low and high estimates. Auctions of interest include: a PBA sale on October 22, 2009 of a 1962 - Jonathan Cape edition for $660 that described as "a fine volume in a near fine jacket";