Rare early printing of Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. First edition, second impression. London: Jonathan Cape, 1953. Hardcover with crisp black cloth boards and bright unfaded red titles to the spine and a red heart to the front cover; requisite rough cut pages as issued with the first and second impressions; the original unclipped dust jacket, which features the original price, “10s. 6d. Net,” to the front and rear lower flaps, boasts vibrant red and gold colors to the classic front artwork. The endpapers are clean and flat, with the front bearing an ink ownership signature, which can be easily hidden behind the jacket flap. Book condition: NF/VG, with expert restoration to the dust jacket’s spine tips by a professional conservator. A striking example of this scarce and sought-after Fleming title in atypically sharp and clean condition.
Included with the lot are three original movie props from the 1962 spy film Dr. No, the very first of the James Bond movies: a red £1 casino chip, a light blue £5 casino plaque, and a pink £10 casino plaque, all of which derive from the iconic scene where Sean Connery first says the now classic line, ‘Bond, James Bond.’
Casino Royale was written by Ian Fleming in Jamaica over a period of around two months, largely from his own experiences and imagination; he also devised the artwork for the cover. According to biographer Andrew Lycett: ‘Within the first few pages Fleming had introduced most of Bond’s idiosyncrasies and trademarks,’ which included his looks, his Bentley and his smoking and drinking habits. The full details of Bond’s martini were kept until chapter seven of the book and Bond eventually named it ‘The Vesper,’ after Vesper Lynd.’ It has been filmed twice as a feature film, the first being the 1967 spoof starring David Niven, and later as the 21st official Bond film starring Daniel Craig as James Bond.
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