A rare collection of first edition James Bond books are currently on sale and represent one of the holy grails for fans of the MI6 agent. But novels, written by Ian Fleming, are not cheap. The complete set will cost you more than $ 600,000. One would have to be rich in Goldfinger levels for this to be a practical purchase.
The collection contains the first editions of the original 14 James Bond books by Ian Fleming, beginning with the 1953 Casino Royale. They even include the original dust jackets, which is a rarity. What makes this collection even more impressive is that ten of the 14 books contain inscriptions by Fleming to various people, from ex-girlfriends to professional golfers. Book dealer Dr. John Atkinson helped put together the collection, which is priced at around $ 613,890 in US dollars. Atkinson had this to say.
“[Fleming] knew the value of books when they were signed and he was pretty scant when he listed people’s books. I think it’s fair to say that he only entered books for people he liked. ”
The works of Ian Fleming continued to inspire one of the most enduring figures in film history. Sean Connery played Bond, aka 007, in 1962. Dr. No. The franchise has been running ever since, spanning more than five decades, grossing billions at the box office. That makes these books quite an important part of pop culture history. Regarding registrations, Casino Royale signed with one of Fleming’s girlfriends. Atkinson had this to say about it.
“Her name was Lisl Popper and she was Austrian. He met her in a bar in Kitzbuhel when he was 19 years old and she tripped him, which he found funny. They had a bond throughout his life and she was one of the people he left. ӰǺ a in your will. ”
A collection like this doesn’t come together easily. It took several years to collect the books and a global effort was required to complete the task. John Atkinson explained how they managed to do it.
“We got them from all over the world and we collected them, from auctions and private sales. We struggle with some of the private collections here and there. “
Meanwhile, Daniel Craig’s James Bond is set to return in No Time to Die. The 25th Bond film has already been delayed several times. More recently, as a result of the box office still being relatively slow, MGM delayed the film until October of this year. Previously, it was scheduled to arrive in April.
You might expect a collection like this to sell at auction. But that is not the case. Instead, John Atkinson is selling the James Bond books through his store. They are currently being held in a secure and undisclosed location. Because earlier books were subject to smaller runs, there are very few first editions available. Especially the ones in this condition. This news comes to us through the BBC.
