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Rare set of James Bond books to go under the hammer for £500,000

25/6/2020

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From The Express

A rare set of James Book books, each inscribed by Ian Fleming, is being sold for £500,000.

Fleming sent presentation copies with witty messages to collaborators, friends and former lovers.

One of those was alleged mistress Sarah Dugdale who received a copy of Dr No from the married Fleming who wrote: "Sarah I'm sure you'll enjoy this, Mabel.” He may have used Mabel as an alias to conceal his extramarital affair.

Fleming sent a copy of Goldfinger to his golfing friends Albert and Cecil Whiting who were fellow members of Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent. The 1958 novel contains a memorable scene in which 007 takes on Auric Goldfinger in a game of golf.
A copy of Casino Royale was inscribed with a reference to the M character. Fleming wrote: "To M, these pages from my memoirs! Ian."

He dedicated a first edition of Live And Let Die to his ex-girlfriend Clare Blanchard, a co-worker at the Kemsley Group of newspapers and early reader of Casino Royale.

The inscription reads: "To Clare who sheds much light. With love Ian 1954."
Fleming sent a copy of From Russia With Love to artist Richard Chopping, who designed the dust jackets.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service was given to Amherst Villiers, who painted the limited edition's title page portrait, while You Only Live Twice was inscribed "to Jonathan from Ian". The identity of the recipient is not known.
The only books not signed by Fleming are The Man With The Golden Gun and Octopussy And The Living Daylights, published after his death in 1964.

The set, amassed over 10 years by a mystery collector, is on sale at the Masterpiece London Art Fair, held by dealer Peter Harrington.
The dealer's Pom Harrington said: "It would be rare to find a collection with so many great inscriptions. It took a decade to build with the collector. He enjoyed the thrill of the chase, and so did we!"

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James Bond book inscribed by Ian Fleming for sale for £27,500

15/6/2020

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From The Daily Telegraph

When Ian Fleming gave a presentation copy of You Only Live Twice, his James Bond classic, to a close friend, it could not have been a more appropriate gift as an espionage novel. The recipient was the former CIA director Allen Dulles, who is mentioned by name in that book.

The creator of one of the most iconic characters in 20th-century literature added a mock-Japanese inscription that alludes to a plot in which 007 is sent to Japan: “To Celestial Dulles-San from Miserable Fleming-San”. The inscription reflected a friendship between two men who had both held senior positions in their nation’s respective intelligence agencies and who both inspired the other’s work.

Now that copy is likely to excite collectors of Bond memorabilia as it has been acquired by Peter Harrington, leading antiquarian booksellers in London. Such is its rarity that it will be offered for sale at £27,500.

Dulles headed the CIA from 1953 to 1961. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War and, research by Christopher Moran, an expert in US national security, suggests that he was fascinated by Fleming’s fictional spy. While real-life CIA agents tried to copy Bond-style technology and gadgets - including the poison-tipped dagger shoes worn by a villain in From Russia With Love - Dulles in turn influenced Fleming's writing about US intelligence agencies. 

In You Only Live Twice, M mentions Dulles by name in complaining that the CIA has stopped revealing information to MI6: “They regard that as their private preserve. When Allen Dulles was in charge, we used at least to get digests of any stuff that concerned us, but this new man McCone has cracked down on all that.”

The two men first met in 1959, dining together in London. They hit it off immediately, and the friendship lasted until Fleming’s death in 1964.

Bookseller Pom Harrington said: “Bond offered popular respect for the CIA's work, especially at a time when the Soviet shooting down of the U-2 Spy plane and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion under Dulles's watch - he had to resign over the latter - led to claims that the agency was ineffective and poorly run.”
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He added: “After Dulles's death, the CIA impounded his private papers, finding with some shock that in Dulles and Fleming's correspondence the former revealed much sensitive information to the latter, and that Dulles actively sought Fleming's advice on intelligence matters… The relationship between Dulles and Fleming shows that real intelligence also finds inspiration in spy fiction, for their public presentation, for technologies, and for their heroic self-image. It dispels the notion that Bond is a subject of interest purely to fans and critics of popular culture and not one worthy of study by historians.”
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Rare books and manuscripts for sale at Mason & Sons

7/6/2020

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A treasure trove of rare Ian Fleming books and manuscripts has just gone on sale via British design company Mason & Sons.

The collection of first editions - many of them signed by Fleming - includes Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice and more.

Aside from the novels, there is a collection of personal correspondence between Fleming and a young Austrian girlfgriend, Edith Maria Thonet, a copy of the address given at Fleming's funeral, lithographs, original advertising artwork and a stunning recreation of the attache case Bond uses in From Russia, With Love.

The incredibly rare items are part of a portfolio called "Bonding with Dad", which Mason & Sons have launched ahead of Father's Day on June 21st. Also for sale are prints and posters, and a wide selection of Bond related clothing.

You can see the full collection at https://masonandsons.com/

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BLOG - John Gardner: The Forgotten Man

28/5/2020

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​John Gardner is something of a forgotten man in the overall picture of the James Bond phenomenon.
 
Everybody knows who Ian Fleming was, but how many non-Bond fans know Gardner's name? Of course, it's not fair to compare a continuation author with the man who created the character and every aspect of his world, but Gardner's contribution was nonetheless significant and, I believe, he deserves more credit.
 
Over a period of 15 years (1981-1996) he wrote 14 original Bond novels, plus novelisations of the movies Licence to Kill and Goldeneye. Fleming wrote the same number of books (counting For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy & The Living Daylights as two books) over an 11-year period, with his last two Bond books being published posthumously.

It was widely assumed that the producers of the Bond movies would turn to Gardner's books once they had exhausted the supply of Fleming's original material, but, to date, this has not happened.

Gardner wrote the novelisation of Licence to Kill to accompany the release of the film in 1989, but the story contained major elements from Fleming's Live and Let Die (Felix disagreeing with something that eats him) and the Milton Krest storyline from the short story The Hildebrand Rarity. The bulk of the story was written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson.
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Gardner was also commissioned to write a novelisation of Goldeneye (1995), which became the first movie not to include any of Fleming's storylines. Although Gardner inserted one of two small scenes, his novel essentially followed the screenplay written by American screenwriter Michael France.
 
There was every opportunity to use Gardner’s books for the later Pierce Brosnan films, but they were overlooked in favour of new stories by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. When you consider the dreadful storyline for Die Another Day, it seems almost perverse that Gardner’s work was not used.  
 
The influence of the films is evident throughout Gardner's books. You get the feeling from the pace, plots, characters and action sequences that he was writing with a big screen adaptation in mind, rather than crafting a literary thriller in its own right, as Fleming had done. This makes it all the more ironic than none of his novels have made it to the screen as yet.

Admittedly, Gardner lacks the colourful turn of phrase, journalistic detail, and the casual snobbery of Fleming’s work, but that is irrelevant in adapting his work for the screen. The 1980s/1990s settings can easily be updated, as can the political and social elements that many of his novels cover.
 
You could reasonably argue that Raymond Benson’s Bond novels should be used (or even the more recent books by Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd and Anthony Horowitz), but Gardner devoted such a large part of his career to Bond that adapting his books into films would introduce a whole new generation to his work, and give him the credit he deserves.
 
In returning to Casino Royale for Daniel Craig’s debut, the producers understandably created a new story arc, which will presumably conclude with No Time to Die. With Craig now expected to hang up his Walther PPK, there is time for a re-boot of the franchise, and I think John Gardner’s books are worthy of consideration.

James Howell

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New Ian Fleming book out this month

18/5/2020

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A brand new book is released this month about Ian Fleming and the events in his life that inspired James Bond. Here is the publisher's blurb:

In Ian Fleming's Inspiration: The Truth Behind the Books ​author Edward Abel Smith goes through the plots of Fleming's novels explaining the real life experiences that inspired them.

​The reader is taken on a journey through Fleming's direct involvement in World War II intelligence and how this translated through his typewriter into James Bond's world, as well as the many other factors of Fleming's life which were also taken as inspiration. Most notably, the friends who Fleming kept, among whom were Noel Coward and Randolph Churchill and the influential people he would mingle with, British Prime Ministers and American Presidents.

Bond is known for his exotic travel, most notably to the island of Jamaica, where Fleming spent much of his life. The desk in his Caribbean house, Goldeneye, was also where his life experiences would be put onto paper in the guise of James Bond. As the island was highly influential for Fleming, it features heavily in this book, offering an element of escapism to the reader, with tales of a clear blue sea, Caribbean climate and island socialising. Ian Fleming might have died prematurely aged 53, but so much of him lives on to this day through the most famous spy in the world, James Bond.

Ian Fleming's Inspiration: The Truth Behind the Books is written by Edward Abel Smith and published in hardback by Pen & Sword History on May 30th. It can pre-ordered on Amazon with free delivery (UK only).
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COMING SOON: Ian Fleming - The Notes by John Pearson

14/5/2020

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Queen Anne Press have announced the forthcoming publication of the notes that John Pearson made in 1965 while researching The Life of Ian Fleming.

The QAP website reveals: "They chart not only Fleming’s life – with details that never made it into the finished biography - but John’s own journey while investigating his subject. As such they form less a series of aides memoires than a book about writing a book. Compelling, insightful, irreverent and written in John’s inimitable style, they make an outstanding read. Never before published, they are available in two limitations:

A Regular Edition numbered 001-150 – £125
A Deluxe Edition lettered A-Z, signed by the author – £275 (fully subscribed)

376pp. Royal. Typography by Libanus Press. Covers by Prof. Phil Cleaver, Etal Design. Introduction by Fergus Fleming.

We expect the Regulars to be available late April. It will take a further three weeks to bind the Deluxe. In both cases, pandemic permitting. To register interest please email info@queenannepress.com

As a taster, here’s a clip from John’s interview with Admiral Godfrey, Fleming’s boss at Naval Intelligence and reputedly the model for ‘M’.
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‘I’ll be wearing a check cap and will meet you off the 9.45 at Eastbourne Central,’ he had said. And there he was, a large, pink-faced man in his early seventies with heavy brown shoes and a grey Rover car. ‘Don’t judge John Godfrey by what he looks like now,’ Harling had said. ‘In his day he was formidable. Very formidable indeed. Since then, of course, he’s had a heart attack and he’s nothing like the man he was.’
But it wasn’t just a heart attack and the passage of a quarter of a century that accounted for the sadness of the occasion. It was partly that he had this air of helplessness, of the best part of life being over, that all naval officers seem to have when they retire. Those brown shoes haunted me throughout the interview.
But more than this, of course, was the fact that Fleming had so grossly oversold the product. Instead of the steely-eyed ‘M’ with his ruthlessness and his wealth and his deeply-lined face, there was this sad old man who found difficulty getting the car parked and looked like Cecil Parker.
The only surviving piece of M-ness one could see were the eyes. They were very pale blue, very cool."

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James Bond Movie Encyclopedia set for autumn release

12/5/2020

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November 2020 looks set to be a busy month for fans of Bond books, with Steven Jay Rubin's seminal encyclopedia due to be re-published on the 10th.

Rubin's 400-page book has been completely updated and now covers the entire film series through to No Time to Die.

Packed with behind-the-scenes information based on interviews with the cast and filmmakers, fascinating facts, trivia, bloopers, classic quotes, character bios, and cast and filmmaker bios, it showcases the type of exhaustive research that has been a hallmark of Rubin's work in film history. It also features hundreds of rare and unusual still photographs of the participants both in front of and behind the camera. 

​It can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.
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Publication of No Time To Die book pushed back to November

14/4/2020

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The official "making of" book for No Time To Die has been postponed to November 24 in line with the delayed cinematic release of the new film.
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This lavish coffee table hardback takes readers behind the scenes of the 25th official James Bond film and reveals the locations, characters, gadgets, weapons, and cars of No Time To Die, with exclusive on-set photography, concept art, costume designs, stunt breakdowns, and more, accompanied by cast and crew interviews.

​The 192-page book has been written by Mark Salisbury and will be published by Titan Books. It can be pre-ordered now on Amazon with a price guarantee.
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Bond: Photographed by Terry O'Neill - The Definitive Collection Hardcover

24/3/2020

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A stunning new James Bond coffee table book is published today by ACC art books.

Bond: Photographed by Terry O'Neill - The Definitive Collection features iconic portraits and contact sheets from Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, Goldeneye and more.

Terry O'Neill was given his first chance to photograph Sean Connery as James Bond in the film Goldfinger. From that moment, O'Neill's association with Bond was made: an enduring legacy that has carried through to the era of Daniel Craig.

It was O'Neill who captured gritty and roguish pictures of Connery on set, and it was O'Neill who framed the super-suave Roger Moore in Live and Let Die. His images of Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore are also important, celebrating the vital role of women in the James Bond world. But it is Terry O'Neill's casual, on-set photographs of a mischievous Connery walking around the casinos of Las Vegas or Roger Moore dancing on a bed with co-star Madeline Smith that show the other side of the world's most recognisable spy.

Terry O'Neill opens his archive to give readers - and viewers - the chance to enter the dazzling world of James Bond. Lavish colour and black and white images are complemented by insights from O'Neill, alongside a series of original essays on the world of James Bond  by BAFTA-longlisted film writer, James Clarke; and newly-conducted interviews with a number of actors featured in O'Neill's photographs.
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The Real James Bond - new book published today

28/2/2020

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A fascinating new book about the life of the ornithologist who lent his name to James Bond is published today.

When ​The Real James Bond published his landmark book, Birds of the West Indies, he had no idea it would set in motion events that would link him to the most iconic spy in the Western world and turn his life upside down.

Born into a wealthy family but cut off in his early twenties, James Bond took off to the West Indies in search of adventure. Armed with arsenic and a shotgun, he took months-long excursions to the Caribbean to collect material for his iconic book, navigating snake-infested swamps, sleeping in hammocks, and island-hopping on tramp steamers and primitive boats.

Packed with archival photos, many never before published, and interviews with Bond's family and colleagues, here is the real story of the pipe-smoking, ruthless ornithologist who introduced the world to the exotic birds of the West Indies.

The Real James Bond, by Jim Wright, is available now in various formats.
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