The 'rarest' Jonathan Capes - Part 2

I'm looking at some more of the 'rarest' Ian Fleming first editions - early reprints that were produced in such small numbers they are incredibly hard to find:

Earlier this summer, jamesbondfirsteditions.co.uk took a look at what are some of the very rarest Jonathan Cape James Bond books.

But they weren’t necessarily the books you might have expected to see.

My blog wasn’t looking at first impressions of Casino Royale (4,728 copies – rare by most people’s standards), or even the much smaller print run of The Man With The Golden Gun (with the gold gun to the boards) – believed to be just 940.

No, what I was actually looking at were some of the very earliest reprints of the few five James Bond books (Casino Royale, through to From Russia With Love).

Some of these later impressions were actually printed in numbers of less than 1,000 – reprint numbers that hardly seem worth it by today’s standards.

They included the likes of the second impression of Moonraker (just 929 books were bound), a number that officially makes this the smallest print run of any of the Capes where we have ledgers for. Other similarly tiny print-run books include the third impression of From Russia With Love – just 990 were made, and the third impressions of Casino Royale and Live and Let Die – where the bound-up numbers were just 986 and 999 respectively.

While some of the reprints of the early titles have very clear reasons behind their print numbers – the 4^th impression of Casino Royale was, in all likelihood given a very healthy 3,021 print run to mark it coming out with an all-new jacket design, it does remain a mystery why some of the early reprints had such ridiculously small runs.

For instance, the 2^nd impressions of both Casino Royale and Live and Let Die (for example) each had comparatively large print runs (above 2,000 each), so it seems odd that the third impression of the same books were so small.

But small they nevertheless are, and this makes them something of a rarity, because if the initial print runs were minute at the time of publication, the number of surviving copies of some of these really low print-run books must surely be even more infinitesimal now, some 70 years later.

In my initial blog, I presented an acquisition that prompted me writing the blog in the first place – a third impression of Live and Let Die.

Being one of only 999 books initially produced, it was immediately snapped up by a collector, and I’ve been approached by many collectors since to see if I can unearth similarly low production-run books.

Well, I’m pleased to say that I have good news to report.

Since putting up my first blog, I’ve been on something of a early reprint hunt – trying to track down other very early, and also very low number reprints.

And I've succeeded in finding some. Below are some of my latest finds:

The RAREST Live and Let Die

Having previously found a 3^rd impression of Live and Let Die, I’m even more pleased to reveal that I’ve managed to find this absolutely stunning 1958 4^th impression – which is numerically even rarer still.

This book is one of just 961 ever made. Or, to put it another way, this book is about as numerically rare as a copy of The Man With The Golden Gun with the gold gilt gun to the front board.

What I think makes this book so amazing, is its stunning condition.

My previous 3^rd impression of Live and Let Die was a little ragged around the edges (particularly the dust jacket), but this 4^th print is in virtually new condition – amazing really, given it came out just two years after the 3^rd impression [The 4^th impression was instructed in October 1957 – Gilbert].

This book is currently on sale for what I believe is a bargain price of £1,050.00.

 If you would like to purchase it, click here for more pictures and a fuller description.

The rarest Dr No – just 100 copies!

My original article covered the 1^st-5^th impression print runs of the first five books – ie the books up to From Russia With Love.

But there is a later title that I want to draw your attention to in particular – Dr No.

Published in 1958, its first edition print run was already quite substantial. It followed the rule up to that point of each new book having a successively larger print run than the one before it. This mean the first impression print run for Dr No was 19,515.

By now, we see the reprints published in significantly larger numbers – the second impression was 5,404, with the third impression higher still at 6,648, before the 4^th impression (published in January 1963), drops down to 1,996.

But what if I told you that there is a variant 4^th impression of Dr No where there were only 100 copies recorded.

Yes, you read correctly, just 100.

Well, this is it – see pics – also one of my most recent finds.

You may be wondering how this can be.

Well, very simply, the 4^th impression was ordered in the summer of 1962, and enough sheets for 2,007 (see what they did there!), were printed. According to the Cape records, all of the jackets – apart from 100 of them – were printed with a price of 15s to the front flap.

The 100 that remained were clipped, and over-printed with a price of 16s, to account for a rise in price that by then was customary to happen each New Year.

I have one of only 100 copies that carry this new over-printed price of 16s.

Given the 4^th print actuall came out from January 1963 onwards, it seems that Cape had forgotten to account for the New Year January price rise when if first instructed the 4th impression, and uncorrectly priced the vast majority of the jackets at 1962 prices (when the reprint was ordered, not when it came out). So, this over-printed 'correct' price is a real rare anomaly.

As with the Live and Let Die before it, it presents in absolutely wonderful condition.

This book is also for sale – click here for more pictures and a fuller description.

Collectors literally have the chance to own a book that – owing to the 15s pricing being out of date as soon as it came out – is only one of 100 ever to have been made.

The best of the rest:

I said earlier that the second printing of Moonraker is the book that literally has the smallest official print-run of any Ian Fleming Jonathan Cape book – at just 929 copies ever made.

So, that’s rarer than a Man With The Golden Gun – first state with the golden gun to the front board.

Well, I have one!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with the jacket, but this book is also in wonderful - practically brand new condition - remarkable really. It is for sale too!

For more details and how to buy - click here.

This second impression Diamonds Are Forever – one of just 2,006 produced is also currently for sale - for a very good price (by virtue of having some inner library stamps).

For more information, pictures, and pricing click here.

As you can see from the examples above, owning a very rare Fleming book could actually mean owning one of the early reprints, rather than an actual first impression.

I'm always looking to track down the rarest James Bond hardbacks, in the best possible condition.

If you have specific wants, then do get in touch, otherwise keep looking for more books as they are added.