Bond books that slipped through my fingers, high prices, and other musings

Here's is a round-up of some of the Ian Fleming books that I've spotted in the last few weeks - some good, some not, and (really annoyingly) - those that got away!

It’s summer, it’s been really hot lately, and when these two things combine, who wants to be cooped up at home writing blogs?

So, let’s just say jamesbondfirsteditions.co.uk has slightly succumbed to the slight dip in activity that normally comes this time of year!

But I'm back, and because it's still summery, this week’s blog is less of a deep dive into one particular area, but more of a round-up of some of the things I’ve been seeing in the last few weeks – things that on their own, probably don’t deserve a full blog, but when added up, fall into that category of ‘musings’. [You can be the judge on whether they’ve been interesting or not!]

So what’s been going on?

1) The books that slipped through my fingers! ;-(

First up, was an auction I spotted that Bonhams was running a few weeks ago. It contained some very interesting books – notably a smattering of rare Sangorski & Sutcliffe-bound first editions, rebound for Asprey of Bond Street (very apt).

Those of you that have followed my blogs might recall that I recently acquired six of these beautifully-bound books – see here – an acquisition that I made simply because I’d only ever seen two others on the open market before (making seeing eight of a possible 14 books in total).

Below are some images of the spines of the six books I bought, with each one having distinctive end papers that are marbled:

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At the time, my purchase of these six, caused me to speculate whether the rest of the Ian Fleming titles (all rebinds of Cape first impressions), were still out there, waiting to be found, and the conclusion I confidently reached was that the remaining books I hadn't seen ‘must’ exist be, because with eight now identified, I felt it unlikely that a complete set hadn't been made somewhere along the line.

So, imagine my delight when I saw this Bonhams lot, where there was indeed more of these books (see picture above). In fact, there were three new ones that I hadn’t seen: Thunderball; You Only Live Twice; and Octopussy & The Living Daylights. (I already have the fourth one they had – The Man With The Golden Gun).

But imagine my despair also, when (rather spoiling things), these rebound Fleming Capes were not being sold on their own (potentially giving me a shot at being able to add them to my collection), but were instead part of a massive lot of 40+ books (see full picture above), including a rebound first impression of The Great Gatsby and a signed book by famous aviator, Amelia Earhart.

Suffice to say, these latter two key books meant that the entire set of books definitely did 'not' go under the radar, and eventually sold (on 1^st July) for in excess of £10,000 including the premium. My Asprey Flemings had got away!

On the plus side: It means my initial conclusion about there ‘must’ being a complete set of these rebinds holds firm. In fact I'm even more confident all the books were rebound for Asprey.

Depressingly though: The three titles in this lot that I didn’t have massively slipped through my fingers. They are now ‘out there’ somewhere, unknown - perhaps with a dealer with deeper pockets than myself, who scooped up the lot, and can now slowly sell them on.

I’m going to have to keep an eye on these resurfacing at some point.

In hope/desperation, I actually emailed Bonhams afterwards to ask if the buyer would be interested in selling me just the Ian Fleming books. I’ve not heard back since!

Well, it was worth a try!!

What I can now say for sure, is that I’ve personally either seen, own, or seen photos of 11 of the 14 Fleming books that have been specially bound for Asprey.

It leads me to think the others are very much out there…somewhere. If only I knew where!!

2) Live and Let Die – rare books are still selling for top money

Every year, auctioneer Ewbanks holds a popular ‘James Bond’ auction – filled mostly with toys, film posters, film props, scripts, shooting boards, and other film-related memorabilia.

This year’s one took place on 16^th July, and in amongst all the film-related material were some actual Fleming books, and there was one in particular that caught my eye: this first impression of Live and Let Die.

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Although it’s a first impression (so one of just 9,900 copies), it featured a second, rather than first state jacket. For those not familiar with Live and Let Die, there are three ‘states’ of the first impression jacket: one with no illustrator credit (the first state), one with a credit ‘floating’ on the front flap (the second state) and one where the credit is directly under the blurb (the third state).

Although the second state jacket is more desirable than a third state one (the third state jacket can be found on both first and second impression books – so collectors tend to stay away from these), it’s still not the most desired first state jacket.

From what I could tell, the jacket wasn’t in tip-top condition either, with what looked like some vertical splits/tears down the face of the jacket (above the ‘V’ of Live). There was also some spine chipping too. 

Yet, despite all this, the book sold at auction for a hammer price of £4,200. Add on 30% fees, and you’re looking at nearly £5,500.

Which pretty much goes to show, that rarity still trumps condition, and leads to some seriously high prices still.

Certain Bond books just can’t be bought for pocket money any more, it seems.

3) You win some, you lose some…

We’ve all heard the stories – you know, of people who buy a box of assorted books – mostly trash – but hidden within it is a rare first edition.

These are the sorts of stories that every dealer will admit to getting giddy about.

Dealers are really just gamblers. While most carefully look at what they buy, sometimes they just have to buy blind, and take a punt, because they see something that they can’t ask too many questions about in case it gives the game away.

Many dealers will wager decent money on striking gold, getting that impossible ‘find’ – unearthing a jewel from amongst a random mass of tat.

Well, I’m not immune from this. Earlier this month, I saw this picture (below) – a box of mostly worthless books, except for a Live and Let Die just sitting there, teasing me.

I knew it wouldn't be a first impression – the colour on the spine is subtly different – much brighter than a first impression one it. But could it be an early later impression? I took a punt, and bought blind.

Sadly, it wasn’t the jewel I hoped it would be. It was an 8^th impression (1963), in not particularly good condition, and it was ex-library (St Thomas’ Hospital Library).

So there you are. Stories of the fantastic find are stories for a reason. They don’t happen all the time.

What I will say though, is that the jacket is in fantastic condition – as library copies often are (ironically) – because it’s had a nice thick protective sleeve on it.

So this jacket will probably go into my ‘later editions spare jackets pile’ – which I’m starting to build up, typically from other purchases that haven't quite made the grade.

In fact, I’m thinking of setting up a new tab on my website, selling original (later) jackets on their own. These are intended for collectors who have jacketless books, who want to put a jacket on them, but would rather use an original later jacket, rather than a cheap facsimile one.

If buying later (but genuine) jackets sounds like something you’d be interested in, let me know!