James Bond First Editions

Double O Seven. James Bond. A Report.

SNELLING, O.F. (1916-2001), [FLEMING Ian].

London: Neville Spearman, Holland Press, 1964. [Reference/ Literary criticism] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.160. Publisher's black cloth hardcovers in Richard Chopping-style dust-wrapper, priced at 18s. A clean, fine copy of the book in a near fine wrapper with a few rubs and creases, minor wear to crown. Shows well. A former book illustrator and intelligence operative in Russia, Oswald Frederick [Fred] Snelling was a highly-regarded member of the antiquarian book trade, serving as the Chief Clerk for London's Hodgson's and then Sotheby's Rare Book Department where he befriended the book collector Ian Fleming and assisted him in research for the James Bond novels. Snelling is best known for his 1964 analysis of the James Bond books, 'Double O Seven, James Bond, A Report', the earliest serious study of the James Bond phenomena. A more serious critique on the life and times of suave secret agent James Bond, which, unlike Kingsley Amis' 'The James Bond Dossier' the same year, was not a great commercial success when released, and is now a rather elusive piece of Bondiana. Item #66016

GILBERT, Jon. Ian Fleming: The Bibliography, p.610.

Price: £250.00