JAMES BOND
FACT FILES

The covers presented on this page are displayed in the order they were first published in the UK, not in the original release order of Ian Fleming's novels. As such this provides a more interesting historical context to the publishing history of the James Bond paperbacks in the UK. The dates shown below each title denote the first printing with this cover.

All titles were reprinted several times throughout the 1980s with later printings under the Triad/Granada or Triad/Grafton imprints. The erratic publishing schedule must have confused collectors when the new series appeared in the late 1970s as not all the titles were available in bookstores at the same time. With no frame of reference, one naturally assumed that all of Ian Fleming's novels would be available with a uniform set of covers. It was only when MOONRAKER was finally published in 1982 that a complete set of all the James Bond novels was then obtainable with matching covers; this was the first time since the 1960s Raymond Hawkey series was published.

A slip-case boxed set of six paperbacks was released in 1978 and again in 1979/80. Unlike the 1973 PAN Books boxed set containing four ‘still-life’ series paperbacks, the outer case used the same images seen on two of the books housed inside rather than a new cover photograph.

^*Ian Fleming's MOONRAKER and THE SPY WHO LOVED ME were not part of the initial batch of titles published by Triad/Panther when the new ‘Girls and Guns’ covers were released. These two titles were delayed so as not to hamper sales of the Panther paperbacks already in circulation as film tie-in editions. Christopher Wood's adaptations of his screenplays were published as JAMES BOND, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME in June 1977, and JAMES BOND AND MOONRAKER in July 1979. The latter utilised Daniel Goozee's superb teaser poster artwork on the cover, and its release was accompanied by clever newspaper advertisements featuring a stylised image of Richard Kiel as Jaws taking a bite out of the novel!

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY was also reprinted in 1981 as a film tie-in edition under the Triad/Granada imprint, and followed in April 1983 by OCTOPUSSY. An unknown illustrator provided the artwork of a Roger Moore ‘lookalike’ on FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, whilst Stephen Crisp illustrated a generic James Bond for the OCTOPUSSY cover and used some ‘lazy’ photo reference for the other figures, one of whom is clearly based on Richard Burton in Where Eagles Dare (1968). Both paperbacks were straight reprints of the Ian Fleming short story anthologies. Unusually, OCTOPUSSY does not allude to the 1983 EON Productions film of that name but ostensibly was published to tie-in with the release of Roger Moore's penultimate outing as 007.

Presumably the inspiration for the new cover design came from the title of Ian Fleming's final James Bond novel THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, which at the time was the most recent film in the EON series starring Roger Moore, with Christopher Lee as the eponymous villain.

The prop was then built to Collins’ specifications in his London studio. The finished gun was delivered to Granada on March 28, 1977 and this date is engraved on the piece (M28277). The total bill was Ł1,590. The oversized prop was used on 15 separate covers featuring various glamorously dressed models photographed by Beverley Le Barrow, for paperbacks published in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The finished prop was 6 feet 1Ľ inches wide by 4 feet 3 inches high (210cm x 129cm) and built from painted wood and plastic laminated plywood representing the faux mother-of pearl butt style plates on either side. The prop golden gun was sold in auction at Sotheby's on October 30, 2019 for Ł11,875.

The design was based on a hybrid of various guns which according to reportage at the time was deliberate. Ian Fleming's Estate had cover approval and insisted that the firearm should not be based entirely on a particular weapon to avoid specific manufacturer endorsement, so the prop incorporated details from both the 9mm Beretta and Colt 45. Art director Steve Abis also had his name impressed on the barrel of the gun in a target motif. Beverley Goodway photographed the models and gun against a stark white or black background.

Some of the most sought-after glamour models in London posed provocatively on the giant golden gun – including Jilly Johnson (The Sun's first ‘Page 3’ girl) on the cover of OCTOPUSSY. Other models included Diane West (GOLDFINGER), Nina Carter (COLONEL SUN), Chai Lee (YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE) and Anne Marie (LIVE AND LET DIE).

Published in much smaller quantities than their PAN counterparts (although reprinted several times in the early 1980s), the Triad/Panther paperbacks are consequently harder to find nowadays and still command a significant price in mint condition.

The series was also published in The Netherlands by A.W. Bruna using alternate photographs from the same Beverley Le Barrow sessions. It is interesting to note that the cover photos for the Dutch versions of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER and ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE are transposed but use the same models in different positions. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and COLONEL SUN retained the same cover image on both the UK and Dutch editions.

Curiously the Dutch editions lose the word ‘James’ from the cover and the positioning of text sometimes encroaches over the face of the model or is overlaid on the gun. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE is particularly hampered by the design, with model Chai Lee's face obscured by the word ‘Bond’. The cropping of the final image is also very tight, making the oversized gun less prominent on the Dutch covers.

Also, in 1989 Ian Fleming's first three James Bond novels were issued as pocket-sized (15cm x 11cm) paperbacks in Yugoslavia utilising Beverley Goodway's ‘Girls and Guns’ photographs. The images were the same as the UK Panther paperbacks, except for MOONRAKER, which used the ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE cover photograph, this time overlaid onto a solid colour background. Like the Dutch editions, the Yugoslavian covers had text overlaid onto the photographs which were also cropped slightly differently to their UK Triad/Panther counterparts.

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