James Bond First Editions

Spy Story.

DEIGHTON, Len (born 1929).

London: Jonathan Cape, 1974. [Cold War spy thriller] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 14cm), pp.224. Publisher's hardback cloth, red endpapers and top edge tinted red, in a pictorial dust-wrapper designed by Ray Hawkey priced £2.25. A clean, fine copy, with strong red lettering to the spine. The fifth in the so-called 'Harry Palmer' series, although the protagonist is actually unnamed. In the 60's, Len Deighton was the chief rival of fellow Cape-published spy writer Ian Fleming, who had championed his first novel 'The Ipcress File'. Illustrator Raymond Hawkey (1930-2010) designed the classic 1960's 007 paperbacks for Pan Books. This copy is from the comprehensive James Bond collection of Ian Fleming bibliographer Jon Gilbert, with his and pencilled note and ownership signature. Item #65307

Milward-Oliver; Len Deighton Annotated Bibliography p.38.

Price: £65.00