Author’s note: Values here are estimates based on experience and are only meant to be a guide. No matter what any "expert" says (myself included), a book is only worth what someone is willing to pay and no one can say for sure what a book will or will not sell for. And condition is everything. All prices here are in U.S. dollars.
The UK Edition
 |
| UK first edition by Jonathan Cape |
When Ian Fleming's
Casino Royale was first published by Jonathan Cape on April 13, 1953, it was a sensation. In England the first printing of 4,750 copies sold out in the first month of publication. Fleming himself designed the dust jacket art, which contained nine bleeding hearts on a gunmetal gray background with "a whisper of love, a whisper of hate" inscribed around the center heart. This first edition of
Casino Royale is one of the most sought-after James Bond books. Heck, it's one of the most sought after first edition books, period! Because the first print run was very small — with many going to libraries — in auction, first editions of
Casino Royale can sell for $10,000 to $30,000 depending on condition (I realize that is quite a spread, but that is how much condition matters with this book). An inscribed copy of
Casino Royale sold for just over $40,000
in 2007.
Know that the dust jacket is everything with this title. With a jacket, a first
Casino can indeed fetch these large prices. But without a jacket, a seller would be lucky to get even a few hundred dollars. Also, beware of color copies of the dust jackets, which have begun to appear on the market in recent years.
In order to meet demand, Cape quickly published a second edition of
Casino Royale in May 1953. This second edition is identical to the first except for the indicator "Second Edition" on the copyright page and the inclusion of "The Author" under Fleming’s picture on the back of the dust jacket. Also, a favorable review of the book was added to the front dust jacket overleaf. This second edition can sell for several hundred dollars. You'll sometimes see these listed as a "First Edition, Second Impression", but don't be fooled into paying a "first edition" price.
Pat Marriott designed an all new dust jacket (featuring a playing card against a green background) for Cape's fourth printing in November 1957. The book also picked up a printers error on page 34 ("neard" for "heard"). The Marriott art (along with the printing error) became standard on all subsequent hardcover editions, ending with the 13th edition in the 1980s. A Marriott first (meaning the 4th) can sell for $50 to $100, depending on condition. Cape would reprint the
Casino Royale hardcover with the Marriott artwork all the way into the 1980s.
The U.S. Edition
 |
| U.S. first edition from Macmillan |
In America the reaction to
Casino Royale was rather cool. (Fleming was not to gain a loyal following in the states until President Kennedy named From Russia with Love one of his favorite books.) Nevertheless, the first edition of
Casino Royale, published by Macmillan on March 23, 1954, remains the most valuable (but not the rarest) of the American books and can sell for between $1,500 and $2,500.
When shopping for an American
Casino, be
aware that two states of the dust jacket exist. Most first editions have the corner of the dust jacket overleaf clipped, and the price reads vertically below the clipped area. But there is another state of the first edition with a complete flap, and the price reads horizontally on the bottom. (The prices are the same on both editions: $2.75.) Most collectors and book dealers don’t know about this variation; so at the moment, there’s little difference in value. But personal experience has been that the complete flap is much harder to find than the clipped flap and should add a few hundred dollars to the price.
Macmillan started what would be a long series of US hardcover book club editions with
Casino Royale (the UK would wait for the next book). The first Macmillan
Casino book club edition — featuring a knife and cards against an orange background in its cover — is quite desirable and can reach as high as $80 in price, unusual for a book club. In fact, there’s a question as to whether or not this is a book club edition or a retail reprint. The later
Macmillan book club — featuring a PPK against a uniform blue-grey or a pink background — are plentiful and have almost no value. These frequently show up on eBay as "hardcover 1st editions." Buyer beware.
In the 1990s, MJF reprinted
Casino Royale as a low-priced "bargain bin" hardcover, part of "The James Bond Classic Library" series. While the jacket art is a bit lackluster, what is nice is that the book uses the original British edition plates (right down to the page 34 printing error). Also in the '90s, "The First Edition Library" reprinted pricey facsimile editions of all of Fleming's novels, and their copy of
Casino Royale is a beauty. This is an excellent way to enjoy the artistry of the true first edition if you don’t have $20,000 on hand, although it still doesn't come cheap with copies on eBay fetching $100 and up.
In 2002, Viking/Penguin published a hardcover edition of
Casino Royale as part of their "anniversary" reprints with jacket art that matched their paperback reprints. In 2008 Penguin Books in the UK released all 14 original James Bond/Ian Fleming novels as special Centenary editions hardcovers, including
Casino Royale. The attractive new cover art was by artist Michael Gillette. These are now surprisingly scarce.
 |
| Later Casinos: Cape (1957), MJF (1990), Viking (2002) and Penguin (2008) |
In the 2006 film adaptation of
Casino Royale, James Bond plays Texas hold'em poker instead of the traditional baccarat (Chemin De Fer) of the novel. But baccarat is still the classic Bonidan game, and it's definitely the game of the Book Bond. Check out
this article about James Bond and Baccarat if you would like to learn more.
Charlie Higson's five Young Bond novels with the newly refreshed cover art are now shipping from Amazon.co.uk. These new editions of SilverFin, Blood Fever, Double or Die, Hurricane Gold, and By Royal Command are published by Puffin Books. The official release date is April 5.
shows a U.S. release date of April 3.
