JAMES BOND 007 MAGAZINE | The James Bond Novels

Read the complete 1962 essay by Ian Fleming

Ian Lancaster Fleming was born in London on 28 May 1908, and educated at Eton College from 1921-26. Following a year at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, the young Fleming spent a formative period studying languages in Europe in order to prepare himself for possible entry into the Foreign Office. Failing to get a offer of employment after barely passing the Foreign Office entrance exam in 1931, his first job was with Reuters news agency. In April 1933 Ian Fleming spent time in Moscow, where he covered the Stalinist show trial of six engineers from the British company Metropolitan-Vickers. This was followed by a brief unsuccessful spell as a stockbroker. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was appointed assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence, Admiral Godfrey, where he played a key part in British and Allied espionage operations. After the war Ian Fleming joined Kemsley Newspapers as Foreign Manager of The Sunday Times, running a network of correspondents who were intimately involved in the Cold War. His first novel, CASINO ROYALE, was published in 1953 and introduced James Bond, Special Agent 007 to the world. The first print run sold out within a month. Following this initial success, a new James Bond title was published every year until his death. His own travels, interests and wartime experience gave authority to everything he wrote. American author Raymond Chandler hailed him as ‘the most forceful and driving writer of thrillers in England.’ The fifth James Bond novel FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE (1957), was particularly well received, and sales soared when President Kennedy named it as one of his favourite books in 1961. Ian Fleming's James Bond novels have now sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide, and inspired a hugely successful film franchise which began in 1962 with the release of Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as 007. The James Bond novels were written in Jamaica, a country Fleming fell in love with during the war, and where he built a house named ‘Goldeneye’. Ian Fleming suffered a heart-attack after playing golf at the Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, and died on 12 August 1964, at the age of 56. He at buried in St. James’ Church, Sevenhampton, Wiltshire, alongside his wife and son.
1964 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interview with Ian Fleming

As well as writing the James Bond novels, Ian Fleming also authored the non-fiction work The Diamond Smugglers in 1957, followed by a series of travelogues also written for The Sunday Times, which were printed in the newspaper in 1960, and published in book form as Thrilling Cities in 1963. Ian Fleming married Ann Rothermere (1913-1981) in 1952, and in 1961 wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for their only child Caspar (1952-1975). The fantasy children's novel about a magical flying car was published in three volumes by Jonathan Cape in 1964-65. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was made into a much-loved film in 1968 by James Bond co-producer Albert R. Broccoli, and in 2002 debuted as a successful West End musical stage production.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE Cosmopoltan May 1959 Illustration by Bob Peak

ABOVE: (left) QUANTUM OF SOLACE was first published in the May 1959 edition of the US magazine Cosmopolitan, featuring three illustrations by Bob Peak [two pictured above]. (right) Ian Fleming's short story 007 IN NEW YORK was first published in the New York Herald Tribune in October 1963 under the title ‘Agent 007 in New York’, and also appeared in American editions of Thrilling Cities (1964). The story was later published in the UK in The Sunday Times Magazine Supplement [pictured above] on 7th November 1999. The cover was illustrated by seven-time James Bond poster artist Robert McGinnis, and 007 IN NEW YORK was accompanied a full-page colour illustration by Lyndon Hayes. 007 IN NEW YORK is now included in all paperback editions of OCTOPUSSY.

The following Ian Fleming short stories had previously first appeared in other publications before being collected into the anthologies entitled FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1960) and OCTOPUSSY AND THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1966):

•	QUANTUM OF SOLACE (Cosmopolitan May 1959) with by three full-page illustrations by Bob Peak (1927-1992) who would later provide the poster artwork for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), and several concept paintings for Licence To Kill (1989). The short story then had its UK debut under the title A Pattern of Love and Hate in the November 1959 issue of Modern Woman magazine, accompanied by the same three colour illustrations by Bob Peak.
•	FROM A VIEW TO A KILL (Daily Express 21-25 September 1959) under the title Murder Before Breakfast illustrated by Andrew Robb (1907-1989)
•	THE HILDEBRAND RARITY (PLAYBOY March 1960) with a full-page colour illustration by Allan Phillips. The short story then had its UK debut in TODAY magazine (week ending March 19, 1960) illustrated by Harry Zelinski. The two-part adaptation concluded in the issue week ending March 26, 1960.
•	RISICO (Daily Express 11-16 April 1960) under the title The Double-Take illustrated by Raymond Hawkey (1930-2010) [and Daily Express news photographer Kenneth Denyer]. The first instalment of this five-part abridged version of the short story was printed on the same day as the hardback first edition of FOR YOUR EYES ONLY was published by Jonathan Cape.
•	THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (Sunday Times Colour Section 4th February 1962) with an illustrated title piece
•	THE PROPERTY OF A LADY (The Ivory Hammer: The Year at Sotheby’s, 219th Season 1962-1963, with a black & white reproduction of a 1917 watercolour illustration of a Carl Fabergé Easter egg in the form of a clock; and also PLAYBOY January 1964) with a colour illustration by Richard Frooman (1930-2014).
•	OCTOPUSSY (Daily Express 4-9 October 1965) illustrated by Andrew Robb, and also (PLAYBOY March & April 1966) with two colour illustrations by Barry Geller (1932-2010).

THE JAMES BOND NOVELS
Jonathan Cape First Editions


CASINO ROYALE	LIVE AND LET DIE	MOONRAKER	DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
First published 13th April 1953 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 5th April 1954 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 7th April 1955 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 26th March 1956 in London by Jonathan Cape
Black cloth with red lettering and red embossed heart on front board	Black cloth with gilt lettering and gilt medallion embossed on front board	Black cloth with title embossed in silver lettering on front board	Black cloth with title and diamond motif embossed in silver on front board
Dust jacket priced at 10s 6d	Dust jacket priced at 10s 6d	Dust jacket priced at 10s 6d	Dust jacket priced at 12s 6d
Dust jacket devised by Ian Fleming [1st - 3rd printings only]	Dust jacket devised by Ian Fleming and executed by Kenneth Lewis	Dust jacket designed by Kenneth Lewis [1st - 8th printings only].	Dust jacket designed by Patricia Marriott
4,728 copies of the first edition were bound, of which a large number were supplied to Public Libraries	7,538 copies were printed of the first edition	9,600 copies were printed of the first edition	14,604 copies were printed of the first edition


FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE	DR. NO	GOLDFINGER	FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
First published 8th April 1957 in London by Jonathan Cape*	First published 31st March 1958 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 23rd March 1959 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 11th April 1960 in London by Jonathan Cape
Black cloth with gun & rose motif embossed in red and silver on front board	Black cloth with dancing girl figure stamped into front board (an unknown number of copies were also produced without the dancing girl)	Black cloth, gilt lettering with skull stamped on front board with gilt coins embossed into the eye-sockets	Black cloth, gilt lettering with eye motif embossed in white on front board
Dust jacket priced at 13s 6d	Dust jacket priced at 13s 6d	Dust jacket priced at 15s	Dust jacket priced at 15s
Dust jacket devised by Ian Fleming and executed by Richard Chopping	Dust jacket designed by Patricia Marriott [1st - 10th printings only]	Dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping	Dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping
14,087 copies were printed of the first edition	19,515 copies were printed of the first edition	24,250 copies were printed of the first edition	21,086 copies were printed of the first edition

* The first set of 12,728 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.


THUNDERBALL	THE SPY WHO LOVED ME	ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE	YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
First published 27th March 1961 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 16th April 1962 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 1st April 1963 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 16th March 1964 in London by Jonathan Cape
Black cloth, gilt lettering with skeletal hand stamped on front board	Black cloth, silver lettering with a dagger stamped the front board with silver embossed blade	Black cloth, silver lettering with white embossed ski-track motif on front board	Black cloth, silver lettering with gilt embossed Japanese lettering on front board
Dust jacket priced at 15s	Dust jacket priced at 15s	Dust jacket priced at 16s	Dust jacket priced at 16s
Dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping	Dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping	Dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping	Wraparound dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping
50,589 copies were printed of the first edition	29,738 copies were printed of the first edition	44,625 copies were printed of the first edition †	55,018 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.


THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN	OCTOPUSSY AND THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS	Richard Chopping (1917-2008)
First published 1st April 1965 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 23rd June 1966 in London by Jonathan Cape
Black cloth, gilt lettering on spine [copies with gilt gun also exist]**	Black cloth, silver lettering on front board
Dust jacket priced at 18s	Dust jacket priced at 10s 6d***
Wraparound dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping	Dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping
81,890 copies were printed of the first edition	45,119 copies were printed

** 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. 940 copies were produced with these boards and those were exported to Commonwealth countries. The choice to omit the embossed golden gun on all remaining copies was purely a financial decision on the part of Jonathan Cape.

*** 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.

THE JAMES BOND NOVELS
Foyles Book Club editions


LIVE AND LET DIE	DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER	FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE	DR. NO
Published July 1956 in London by The Reprint Society [W. & G. Foyle Limited]	Published 1957 in London by The Thriller Book Club [W. & G. Foyle Limited]	Published 1958 in London by The Book Club [W. & G. Foyle Limited]	Published May 1959 in London by The Book Club [W. & G. Foyle Limited]
Black cloth-effect textured paper over boards	Pale-blue cloth-effect textured paper over boards	Powder-blue textured cloth paper over boards	Sunflower-yellow cloth over boards
Illustrated jacket featuring line-drawings set against pink and white triangles	Dust jacket illustration by Patricia Marriott	Dust jacket illustration by Richard Chopping	Dust jacket illustration by Patricia Marriott
201,700 copies printed	29,000 copies printed	107,133 copies printed plus the additional 12,728 rejected 1957 Jonathan Cape sheets	120,00 copies printed

GOLDFINGER	FOR YOUR EYES ONLY	THUNDERBALL	THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
Published 1960 in London by The Book Club [W. & G. Foyle Limited]	Published April 1961 in London by The Book Club [W. & G. Foyle Limited]	Published 1962 in London by The Book Club [W. & G. Foyle Limited]	Published 1963 in London by The Book Club [W. & G. Foyle Limited]
Beige cloth over boards	Mid-green textured cloth over boards	Powder-blue cloth-effect textured paper over boards	Mid-blue or red textured cloth over boards
Dust jacket illustration by W. M. Cuthill	Dust jacket illustration by W. M. Cuthill	Dust jacket illustration by W. M. Cuthill	Dust jacket illustration by W. M. Cuthill
120,000 copies printed	120,000 copies printed	90,000 copies printed	70,750 copies printed

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE	YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE	THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN	Founded in 1903 by brothers William & Gilbert Foyle, their flagship London bookstore was situated on Charing Cross Road. In 1930 William's daughter Christine initiated literary luncheons and took over the running of the company from 1945. Foyles reprinted many popular novels under their various Book Club imprints. Foyles was acquired by Waterstones in 2018.
Published 1964 in London by The Book Club [W. & G. Foyle Limited]	Published August 1965 in London by The Book Club [W. & G. Foyle Limited]	Published 1966 in London by The Book Club [W. & G. Foyle Limited]
Duck-egg blue textured paper over boards	Royal-blue square-patterned cloth over boards	Blue square-patterned cloth over boards
Dust jacket illustration by W. M. Cuthill	Dust jacket illustration by W. M. Cuthill	Dust jacket illustration by C. H. Richard
75,000 copies printed	70,000 copies printed	70,000 copies printed

THE JAMES BOND NOVELS
UK Omnibus Editions – Published by Jonathan Cape


A JAMES BOND OMNIBUS	A JAMES BOND QUARTET	A JAMES BOND QUINTET	THE ESSENTIAL JAMES BOND
First published 5th April 1973 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 29th October 1992 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published 2nd September 1993 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published November 1994 in London by Jonathan Cape
Dust jacket priced at £2.50	Dust jacket priced at £15.99	Dust jacket priced at £19.99	Dust jacket priced at £17.99
Dust jacket designed by Craig Dodd	Dust jacket designed by John Caple	Dust jacket designed by John Caple	Dust jacket designed by John Caple
6,000 copies were printed

On 5th April 1973 Jonathan Cape published the first James Bond Omnibus which collected LIVE AND LET DIE, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER and DR. NO. Designed by Craig Dodd, the dust jacket featured a metallic silver-coloured laminated finish impressed with a series of horizontal lines converging to a single point to create a tunnel effect. Only 6,000 copies were produced. The Book Club Associates also issued their own version of A JAMES BOND OMNIBUS on 1st April 1973, which was available to BCA members for £1.50 although no price was printed on the dust-wrapper. With the exception of a reset title and copyright page and a BCA logo on the spine, this version was identical to the Jonathan Cape edition. With a print run of 15,000 copies, the BCA edition was intended for distribution to British Commonwealth and Empire countries, excluding Canada. Jonathan Cape later published three further omnibus editions 1992-94 collecting all of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and short stories with the exception of 007 IN NEW YORK, which would not appear in hardcover in the UK until 2008 when it was included in QUANTUM OF SOLACE The Complete James Bond Short Stories from Penguin Books.

THE JAMES BOND SHORT STORIES
UK Omnibus Edition

QUANTUM OF SOLACE The complete James Bond short stories

QUANTUM OF SOLACE The complete James Bond short stories	Issued at the same time as their paperback edition, Penguin Books published a hardcover version of QUANTUM OF SOLACE The Complete James Bond Short Stories with just 5,000 copies produced. Unusually the book has no dust jacket, instead it had a manila cardboard wraparound band in the form of an official field report. The band was embossed with a Royal ‘crown’ incorporating the Penguin logo. The book was designed by Angus Hyland and Fabian Herrmann of the independently-owned design studio Pentagram. Their striking design was winner in the Best Jacket/Cover Design category at the 2009 British Book Design and Production Awards. Limited to just 5,000 copies this omnibus is now a highly collectible title, issued only once in hardcover.
First published 30th October 2008 in London by Penguin Classics/Penguin Books Limited
Dust jacket priced at £20
Grey cloth over boards with a lattice pattern. Front cover embossed in silver with a silenced Walther PPK pistol motif.
Book designed by Angus Hyland and Fabian Herrman of Pentagram
5,000 copies were printed

Later UK hardcover editions of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels

Further reading – A complete guide to the literary world of James Bond

JAMES BOND NOVELS
By other authors

JAMES BOND NOVELS
First US printings

JAMES BOND NOVELS
UK Paperbacks

007 MAGAZINE Collectors’ Guide to
James Bond US Paperbacks

PULP FICTION – The Publishing history of the James Bond novels in the USA

Other works by Ian Fleming (Hardcover UK first editions)

In addition to the James Bond novels, Ian Fleming was also the author of two non-fiction books which collected a series of articles originally written for The Sunday Times, and published in weekly instalments in the newspaper and magazine. In April 1961 Ian Fleming suffered a heart attack during a meeting at The Sunday Times. Whilst recovering in the London Clinic he wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for his son Caspar (1952-1975). The story of a magical flying car was published by Jonathan Cape in three volumes from October 1964 to January 1965. All three volumes were collected into one omnibus edition by the Book Club in 1968 - the same year Albert R. Broccoli produced the much-loved musical film adaptation of the stories. The three Chitty Chitty Bang Bang volumes were re-published as one omnibus edition by Jonathan Cape in 1971.


THE DIAMOND SMUGGLERS	THRILLING CITIES	CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG The Magical Car
First published* 29th November 1957 in London by Jonathan Cape	First published** 4th November 1963 in London by Jonathan Cape	Adventure Number 1 First published 22nd October 1964 Adventure Number 2 First published 26th November 1964 Adventure Number 3 First published 14th January 1965 in London by Jonathan Cape
Dust jacket priced at 12s 6d	Dust jacket priced at 30s	Dust jackets priced at 10s 6d
Wraparound dust jacket featuring an illustration by Denis Piper (1928-1987)	Wraparound dust jacket featuring an illustration by Paul Davis (1938- )	Wraparound dust jacket featuring an illustration by John Burningham (1936-2019) [all books illustrated throughout by John Burningham]
9,578 copies were printed	9,961 copies were printed	Copies printed: #1 12,378; #2 12,300; #3 12,441

* Originally published in The Sunday Times in six weekly illustrated instalments from 15th September - 20th October, 1957.
** Originally published in The Sunday Times in five weekly instalments from 31st January - 28th February, 1960 [America and the Far East], and a further seven weekly instalments 31st July - 4th September, 1960 [Europe].

Other works by Ian Fleming (Later UK hardcover editions)


THRILLING CITIES	CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG The Magical Car	CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG: The Complete Adventures of the Magical Car
Published October 1964 in London by The Reprint Society [W.& G. Foyle Limited]	Published 1968 in London by Book Club Associates	Published 23rd September 1971 in London by Jonathan Cape
Pictorial jacket with black & white photographs of the destinations described within	Colour-printed textured paper-covered boards with wraparound illustration by John Burningham	Dust jacket priced at £1.50 Pictorial jacket with illustrations by John Burningham
5,000 copies were printed		7,500 copies were printed of the first omnibus edition

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang illustrated by John Burningham

JAMES BONDFACT FILES

JAMES BOND
FACT FILES