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Ian Fleming Centenary

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A missed opportunity?
It’s difficult to know the limitations and caveats, if any, the Royal Mail may have been working under when producing their Ian Fleming Centenary stamps, so here we present some of what 007 MAGAZINE ideally would have produced had we been responsible for the art direction and the physical production of these set of important special issue stamps.
Ian Fleming mock-up stamp using HORST TAPPE Portrait Ian Fleming mock-up stamp using HORST TAPPE Portrait Ian Fleming mock-up stamp using HORST TAPPE Portrait Ian Fleming mock-up stamp using HORST TAPPE Portrait
Ian Fleming mock-up stamp Ian Fleming mock-up stamp


ABOVE (top left): Why no stamp featuring the author? Probably the most iconic portrait of Ian Fleming ever taken  (by Horst Tappe [1938-1995]); Fleming holding his obligatory cigarette holder containing the special Morland & Co three ring Balkan mixture handmade cigarette would have made the perfect and definitive representation of the author on a stamp.

(Top right) A thoughtful Fleming – another famous portrait by photographer Horst Tappe. Whether the fact that Fleming almost always was featured with a cigarette in most of his photographs had any bearing on whether these images were deemed suitable for use in today’s world of political correctness gone mad, we can only guess!

  
 
Mock-up stamps featuring Jonathan Cape first edition artwork Mock-up stamps featuring Jonathan Cape first edition artwork
Mock-up stamps featuring Jonathan Cape first edition artwork Mock-up stamps featuring Jonathan Cape first edition artwork
Mock-up stamps featuring Jonathan Cape first edition artwork Mock-up stamps featuring Jonathan Cape first edition artwork
Mock-up stamps featuring Jonathan Cape first edition artwork Mock-up stamps featuring Jonathan Cape first edition artwork

ABOVE: Using the Jonathan Cape original First Edition covers from the 1950s and 1960s ‘bookended’ with a portrait shot of Ian Fleming by Norman Parkinson showcases the class and ageless design style of these classic dust jacket artworks by Kenneth Lewis, Pat Marriott, and with FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE onward – the masterful Richard Chopping.
CASINO ROYALE mock-up stamps CASINO ROYALE mock-up stamps
DR. NO mock-up stamps DR. NO mock-up stamps
GOLDFINGER mock-up stamps GOLDFINGER mock-up stamps
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER mock-up stamps DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER mock-up stamps
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY mock-up stamps FOR YOUR EYES ONLY mock-up stamps
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE mock-up stamps FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE mock-up stamps

ABOVE: By replacing the American Jove Books editions with the more aesthetically pleasing GREAT PAN Books editions with artwork by Sam Peffer (Peff) and J. Oval, the stamp is given a more even visual appearance and is also more relevant in the historical development of the James Bond cover designs. Also note we have used here a much cleaner image (without creases and colour corrected) of the PAN Books edition of FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE featuring the Fabergé Egg in the series of covers designed by Raymond Hawkey, a fact that is missing in the credits for the Royal Mail stamps.

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FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: Ian Fleming and James Bond