James Bond First Editions

The Saint Sees it Through.

CHARTERIS, Leslie (1907-1993).

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1947. [Crime Fiction] FIRST UK EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.256. Publisher's beige cloth (also issued in pale blue cloth), with black titles to spine and upper board. With the dust-jacket designed by Jarvis, priced at 8/6. A very good copy in a good, edge-worn wrapper with some nicks and tears, chipped to spine ends. Simon Templar, alias The Saint, fights an international dope ring. According to Paul Simpson (The Rough Guide to James Bond, p.47), 'The Saint' is a literary ancestor of 007, the debonair Simon Templar being a gentleman adventurer whose parallels with Bond are obvious. Item #66748

Steinbrunner & Penzler, pp.349-351. See also Gilbert, p.616.

Price: £48.00