JAMES BOND
FACT FILES

THE JAMES BOND NOVELS

The following Ian Fleming short stories had previously appeared in other publications before being collected into the anthologies entitled FOR YOUR EYES ONLY and OCTOPUSSY AND THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS:

QUANTUM OF SOLACE (Cosmopolitan May 1959)
THE HILDEBRAND RARITY (Playboy March 1960)
OCTOPUSSY (Playboy March & April 1966)
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (Sunday Times Colour Section 4th February 1962)
THE PROPERTY OF A LADY (The Ivory Hammer: The Year at Sotheby’s, 219th Season 1962-1963) and also (Playboy January 1964)

Ian Fleming's 1964 short story 007 IN NEW YORK originally appeared in American editions of THRILLING CITIES and was later published in the UK in the Sunday Times Magazine Supplement on 7th November 1999. It is now included in all paperback editions of OCTOPUSSY AND THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS.

First published 13th April 1953 in London by Jonathan Cape

Black cloth with red lettering and red embossed heart on front board 

Dust jacket priced at 10s.6d

Dust jacket devised by Ian Fleming

4,728 copies were bound of which a large number were supplied to Public Libraries

First published 5th April 1954 in London by Jonathan Cape

Black cloth with gilt lettering and gilt medallion embossed on front board

Dust jacket priced at 10s.6d

Dust jacket devised by the author and executed by Kenneth Lewis.

7,500 copies were printed of the first edition

* The first set of 15,000 sheets were of poor print quality and were rejected by publishers Jonathan Cape who later supplied them to The Book Club, which means technically the first printing is The Book Club edition (although the Cape version was actually published first). The Book Club edition has blue boards and no embossed motif.

First published 31st March 1958 in London by Jonathan Cape

Black cloth with dancing girl figure stamped into front board (an unknown number of copies were also produced without the dancing girl)

Dust jacket priced at 13s.6d

Dust jacket designed Pat Marriott

20,000 copies were printed of the first edition

First published 23rd March 1959 in London by Jonathan Cape

Black cloth, gilt lettering with skull stamped on front board with gilt coins embossed into the eye-sockets

Dust jacket priced at 15s

Dust jacket designed Richard Chopping

24,000 copies were printed of the first edition

The Jonathan Cape hardback editions of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME have a double page line drawing of the Dreamy Pines Motor Court which was omitted from later paperback versions of the novel.

 First published 1st April 1963 in London by Jonathan Cape

Black cloth, silver lettering with white embossed ski- track motif on front board

Dust jacket priced at 16s

Dust jacket designed Richard Chopping

45,000 copies were printed of the first edition †

 First published 16th March 1964 in London by Jonathan Cape

Black cloth, silver lettering with Japanese lettering embossed in silver on front board

Dust jacket priced at 16s

Dust jacket designed Richard Chopping

56,000 copies were printed of the first edition

** The initial printing of THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN had a gilt embossed gun stamped on the front board and is generally regarded as the first state of the book. After 150 copies had been bound it was discovered that the embossing was prone to oxidisation and the printing was recalled by publishers Jonathan Cape. The recall was not entirely successful as a small number of copies had already been shipped making this by far the rarest of all Ian Fleming titles. The released version of the First Edition has plain black boards.

*** OCTOPUSSY AND THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS was later re-priced in order to clear the remaining unsold copies making this the only Ian Fleming title that exists solely in its first edition state in hardback.

† ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE was also issued as a Limited Edition of 250 copies, which were numbered and signed by Ian Fleming. Presented in a clear acetate cover and featuring a frontispiece portrait of the author by Amherst Villiers.

43 un-numbered copies of the Limited Edition were also produced. 10 of these editions went to Ian Fleming, the rest were intended as presentation copies.

A drawing done in the Admiralty, in the famous 'Room 39' of Naval Intelligence Division, in 1943, by a fellow officer, Robert Bartlett

RIGHT: Starting with the 10th printing in 1975, MOONRAKER had a redesigned dust  jacket with the title embossed in silver lettering.

JAMES BOND NOVELS BY OTHER AUTHORS