Casino Royale
Cape, 1953.
First edition. Original black cloth with red heart vignette on upper cover and titles on the spine, in gun metal grey dustwrapper designed by the author. A fine copy in a near fine dustwrapper, which is very clean and crisp, with just a small snag to the base of the back panel resulting in minimal loss and the most trivial wear to the tips of the spine and corners. The colour remains notably bright and the predominantly white back panel unusually clean. An excellent example.
The author's first book and the first appearance of James Bond, who has probably had a greater impact on society and popular culture than any other fictitious character since Sherlock Holmes. 4,728 copies of the first impression were printed, although no more than 3000 were issued in the first state dustwrapper, the remainder having a favourable Sunday Times review overprinted on the front flap. A significant proportion of the first printing would have been sold to libraries and the remainder were well read, making well preserved copies ever more uncommon.
"Ian Fleming has discovered the secret of narrative art... the reader has to go on reading" - John Betjeman (review in The Daily Telegraph).
Gilbert A1a(1.1)
Stock ID: 32595
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