James Bond First Editions

The Life of Ian Fleming; [together with] James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007. The Life consisting of three book-form editions and two magazine appearances: as James Bond alias Ian Fleming [in: Life Magazine, vol. 61, nos. 15-16, 7 & 14 October 1966] and as James Bond's Last Victim [in: Reader's Digest, vol. 93, no. 556, August 1968].

FLEMING, Ian - PEARSON, John.

Jonathan Cape; Pan Books; Reader's Digest Association; and Time Incorporated, Chicago, Illinois, 1966-68. 6 volumes. Proof copy in wrappers with dust jacket; first edition hardcover with jacket; others in wrappers. With many half-tone illustrations from photographs. Proof with creasing to spine and spotting to edges; first edition with rubbing to cloth and sunning to extremities; mild toning to paperback volumes. Overall in very attractive condition in like dust jackets, edges creased or rubbed, proof copy not price-clipped and with marks to verso; first edition price-clipped. Life magazines with subscriber's label on front wrappers, splitting to spines, first leaf of first issue loose, otherwise sound, faint damp stain at lower margins of second issue. The Life comprising an uncorrected proof copy; the first edition with the scarce publisher's mounted legal statement (p. 340); the first paperback edition, inscribed by the author "All best wishes, from John Pearson"; and the first appearance in print of the Life of Ian Fleming, which was published in a condensed version as James Bond alias Ian Fleming in Life Magazine (pp. 102-18 and pp. 112-28), and was subsequently republished as James Bond's Last Victim in Reader's Digest (pp. 146-170). The legal statement was only included in a small number of copies; it acknowledges some factual errors in the text concerning the Thunderball legal case and confirms that alterations will be made for future editions. The Thunderball case was a great controversy at the time and had a lasting effect on Fleming's health. Even after the author's death, the publisher's lawyers were cautious, and some potentially damaging remarks were removed. John Pearson began his career as a journalist at The Sunday Times, where he worked as assistant to Ian Fleming on the prestigious Atticus column. With these editions Pearson became the first authorized biographer of Fleming, and in 1973 Pearson became the second official author of James Bond continuation fiction (following Kingsley Amis in 1968), with James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007, a fictionalized account in which Pearson interviews Bond as he looks back on his life. The present copy is the first American paperback edition of 1975. The work was sanctioned by Glidrose Publications, the parent company and copyright owner of the James Bond chronicles. Glidrose reportedly considered commissioning Pearson to write a new series of James Bond novels in the 1970s, but nothing came of this, and the established thriller writer John Gardner picked up the mantle in 1981. From the significant Ian Fleming collection of Martin Schøyen (b.1940), with his bookplate. Schøyen's private collection of manuscripts, which span all cultures and all time periods, is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. Item #156665

Gilbert, pp. 592 & 610; The Schøyen Collection Nos. 247-251.

Price: £2,000.00