FOR SPECIAL SERVICES reprint in November

My old friends at CommanderBond.net have scored a sweet scoop. It appears Orion will release a new reprint of John Gardner's second James Bond novel For Special Services in November, and CBn offered a first look at the cover art on their Twitter.

Later this year, @orionbooks will republish John Gardner’s second James Bond novel, For Special Services. The book features the reappearance of SPECTRE. Here’s an early look at cover art. @TheBookBond @johngardnercom https://t.co/U7lnro17A2 pic.twitter.com/q2VSa46GfA

— Commander James Bond (@CBn007) July 23, 2020

James Bond ORIGIN Vol. 2 released (maybe)

The second volume of James Bond Origin may or may not be released today. Even in normal times Dynamite's release dates have been all over the place, and the Covid shutdowns have scramble those dates even more. But according to Amazon, the book has a July 14 release, so...

RUSSIAN RUSE: A Norwegian supply ship carrying gold mysteriously sinks. A Russian crew claims the Nazis are responsible. Royal Navy Lieutenant James Bond suspects foul play.

Purchase James Bond Origin Vol. 2 from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The Young Bond PROOFS

I was surprised at how popular the Raymond Benson James Bond proofs were that I just sold on eBay and shared here. So I thought I'd share my set of Young Bond proofs. I don't have plan to sell these, but still thought people would enjoy a look.

For the final two Higson books the publisher released what might be more accurately called Galleys. But as far as I know, these were the only advance copies. Hurricane Gold came in two variants.

The only proof I have for the Steve Cole books is Shoot To Kill. I don't know if proofs exist for his other three books.

U.S. publisher Miramax produced proofs for the first two Charlie Higson books. As far as I know, these are the only U.S. proofs for any of the Young Bond titles.

The Benson PROOFS

Here are the U.S. uncorrected proofs for Raymond Benson's six James Bond novels, which have just listed for sale on eBay. (I'm thinning out my Bond collection.) But I realized I never did a post to document them, so here they are!

IAN FLEMING - THE NOTES by John Pearson

Queen Ann Press has released an intriguing new book for the Ian Fleming connoisseur.

Ian Fleming - The Notes by John Pearson

Here are the notes that John Pearson made in 1965 while researching The Life of Ian Fleming. They chart not only Fleming’s life – with details that never made it into the finished biography - but John’s own journey while investigating his subject. As such they form less a series of aides memoires than a book about writing a book. Compelling, insightful, irreverent and written in John’s inimitable style, they make an outstanding read. Never before published, they are available in two limitations:

A Regular Edition numbered 001-150 – £125
A Deluxe Edition lettered A-Z, signed by the author – £275 (fully subscribed)

376pp. Royal. Typography by Libanus Press. Covers by Prof. Phil Cleaver, Etal Design. Introduction by Fergus Fleming.

The Regular Edition is available now from Queen Ann Press. The Deluxe Edition will be ready by the second week of June.

The curious YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE tie-ins

For those who collect James Bond tie-in editions (copies of the Fleming originals reprinted with artwork or an acknowledgment of the corresponding film), here's one you may not be aware of. In 1967 the UK publisher PAN released a tie-in paperback edition for Sean Connery's You Only Live Twice with only a movie-themed dust-jacket wrapped around their regular first edition paperback. What's odd is they also released a version with this same movie cover art as their "second edition". I'm not sure which came first, but I would suspect the dust-jacketed version is the harder to find. Happily I stumped upon one at some point.

You Only Live Twice also received untypical treatment in the U.S. Up to this point, Signet had produced nice tie-in editions with original cover art. But for You Only Live Twice they simply applied a sticker to the cover of their current in-print edition. I'm wondering if this was purely an economic decision as they made have had a large stock of the paperback on hand. But one wonders how Eon would have felt about this, especially as Signet has produced unique tie-in editions for Charle's K. Feldman's competing Casino Royale.

You can see all the tie-in paperback editions in the two posts below:

UK JAMES BOND movie tie-in editions

U.S. JAMES BOND movie tie-in editions

Potter & Potter major Bond book auction April 18

Chicago based auctioneers Potter & Potter are offering a wide selection of first edition Bond books from all authors in their upcoming auction on April 18. Potter & Potter are the leading magic auction specialists so I've had a lot of interaction with them on various Houdini items. They are an excellent auction house and I'm very excited to see them moving into Bond.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW AND BID ONLINE

You can order a catalog or download a free PDF from the Potter & Potter website.

UPDATE: The first edition Casino Royale sold for $19,000. A first edition Live and Let Die took $3,600, Moonraker $2,200, and Diamonds Are Forever $2,800.

The Folio Society releases The Spy Who Loved Me

The Folio Society has released their next illustrated slip-cased Ian Fleming classic, The Spy Who Loved Me.

The latest volume in Folio’s celebrated Bond collection features a unique twist: for the first and only time in the series, we witness the agent’s adventures through the eyes of another character. Observed by a woman who finds him both frightening and alluring, Bond is exposed in a way that the reader has never seen before – making The Spy Who Loved Me an essential read for anyone wishing to get under the skin of the famous secret agent. This edition features a smart binding inspired by the agent’s suits, and a series of exquisitely glamorous – and daring – illustrations by series artist Fay Dalton. For this edition we have also reintroduced Fleming’s original prologue, which had been removed from all modern editions of the text. In an unusual move by the author, this short introduction suggests that the manuscript had been left on his desk by Vivienne Michel, the character who narrates the book.

The Spy Who Loved Me Folio Edition is priced at $62.95 and is available now from the Folio Society website.

Also available are illustrated editions of Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, Goldfinger and Thunderball.

The Man With The Golden Gun on BBC Radio 4

A new radio drama adaptation of Ian Fleming's The Man With The Golden Gun will air on March 14, 2020 on BBC Radio 4. Below are details.

Ian Fleming’s psycho-political Cold War thriller, written in 1964 and dramatised by Archie Scottney. James Bond’s obit appears in the Times. But suddenly he’s back in London with murder on his mind. Brainwashed by the Russians? 

M gives him one more chance - terminate international assassin, Francisco Scaramanga.
Bond infiltrates the killer’s Jamaican HQ. But 007 has a conscience. Can he eliminate the butcher in cold blood? Will his cover be blown? 

A stellar cast includes Toby Stephen's return as 007. Cuban/American star Guillermo Diaz excels as psychopath Scaramanga and Janie Dee returns as Moneypenny, with John Standing as M and Moira Quirk as a feisty Mary Goodnight. 

Martin Jarvis directs and is the voice of Ian Fleming in a dazzling Caribbean soundscape with specially composed music by A-Mnemonic. 

Cast:
James Bond ….. Toby Stephens
Scaramanga ….. Guillermo Diaz
M ….. John Standing
Chief-of-Staff ….. Lloyd Owen
Moneypenny ….. Janie Dee
Townsend ….. Simon Templeman
Professor Gillian ….. Lisa Dillon
Tiffy ….. Monica McSwain
Mary Goodnight ….. Moira Quirk
Paradise ….. Seamus Dever
Gengerella ….. Tim Dekay
Hendricks ….. Matthew Wolf
Binion ….. André Sogliuzzo
Garfinkel ….. Darren Richardson
Ruby ….. Anna Mathias
Leiter ….. Josh Stamberg
Nicholson ….. JD Cullum
Doctor ….. Gilbert Glenn Brown
Matron ….. Inger Tudor
Cargill ….. John Cothran
Telephonists ….. Anna-Louise Plowman, Paula Jane Newman, Anna Lyse Erikson
Newsreader ….. Brian Perkins
Fleming ….. Martin Jarvis
Other parts by members of the cast 

Specially composed music: A-Mnemonic.
Sound Design: Mark Holden
Dramatised by Archie Scottney
Director: Martin Jarvis 

Producer: Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

DR. NO in 1961

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd pluck down a paperback from my shelf to share. This is a 4th printing 1961 UK paperback of Ian Fleming's Dr. No. It's fun to think of this book in stores just a year before the movie version was released. After that, James Bond could no longer look like that chap with the gun below.