LINK: Double O Seventy - A report for the 70 Years of James Bond 007 celebration

Our friend Ajay Chowdhury reports on the 70th Anniversary celebration event in London. Check it out at From Sweden With Love.

70TH ANNIVERSARY editions released today

Today sees the release of Ian Fleming Publications all-new 70th Anniversary reprints of the classic James Bond novels by Ian Fleming. The set also includes his two non-Bond novels Thrilling Cities and The Dimond Smugglers. Fans have been overall positive about the new cover art. Less so about the "sensitivity" edits. But it's great have these books still and print and still as popular as ever 70 years after the first appearance of James Bond in Casino Royale. Raise a glass to 007!

You can purchase these new editions at Amazon.co.uk.

70th ANNIVERSARY James Bond UK covers revealed

Cover art for the 70th Anniversary James Bond UK paperbacks by Ian Fleming have been revealed on the official Ian Fleming Publications website. They're pretty nice! Click the image below to see them all.

The new books will be released on April 13, 2023.

JOHN CORK on the 70th Anniversary edit controversy

When it comes to James Bond, there's no one whose opinion I respect more than John Cork. John has weighed in on the controversy over edits made to the upcoming 70th Anniversary Ian Fleming James Bond novels. This is well worth your time. Click the image below to read at 007 Magazine.

IFP issues statement about Anniversary edition edits

Ian Fleming Publications has issued a statement about the edits to their upcoming Anniversary re-issues of the original Ian Fleming James Bond novels. Click the image below to have a read at the official Ian Fleming Publications website.

Variety reports 70th ANNIVERSARY editions will be edited

Today's Variety is reporting that IFPs new 70th anniversary editions of Ian Fleming original James Bond books will contain edits to remove perceived racist content. You can read the full article HERE. Below is an excerpt:

A commonly used pejorative term used for Black people by Fleming, whose Bond books were published between 1951 and 1966, has been removed almost entirely and replaced with “Black person” or “Black man.” In other instances, references have been edited.

For example, in “Live and Let Die” (1954), Bond’s opinion of Africans in the gold and diamond trades as “pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought, except when they’ve drunk too much” has been altered to “pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought.”

Another scene in the book, set during a strip tease at a Harlem nightclub, was originally “Bond could hear the audience panting and grunting like pigs at the trough. He felt his own hands gripping the tablecloth. His mouth was dry.” This has been revised to “Bond could sense the electric tension in the room.” A segment in the book describing accented dialogue as “straight Harlem-Deep South with a lot of New York thrown in,” has been removed.

For some additional context, both U.S. editions of Live and Let Die and Diamonds Are Forever were edited for sensitivity back in Fleming's day, so this isn't entirely new. But these edits appear to be going further than those and I'm sure this news is going to draw a lot of comment from Bond fans.

For me personally, I want the original unedited texts. Full stop. I was very happy when the U.S. editions were finally updated with the UK texts in 2002. Fleming's words and thoughts should remain unchanged, even if offensive. History and art should not be altered. But a disclaimer is certainly appropriate and I think a good idea.

But I also understand IFPs dilemma. They are marketing these editions to a mass audience and they have to deal with the times we are in. For those who want the unedited texts, you can certainly still find those. And maybe some day the texts will be returned to the original. I'm not sure if these changes will make these 70th Anniversary editions more collectible or less so, but they better have some pretty spectacular cover art to overcome the taint that I think these will forever have for Fleming purists.

Cover art above is from a 1970 Pan edition of The Man With The Golden Gun. UK cover art for the 70th Anniversary editions have not been revealed.

UPDATE: IFP have issued a statement HERE.

70th Anniversary eBOOKS released

Today new digital eBook versions of the fourteen Bond adventures, plus the two Fleming non-fiction titles Thrilling Cities and The Diamond Smugglers, have been released to retailers of digital books within the UK. The release of the eBooks marks 71 years to the day that Ian Fleming sat down at his typewriter in Goldeneye, Jamaica, and began writing Casino Royale.  

These digital releases represent the first step in Ian Fleming Publications’ 70th Anniversary reissues of the original books. For now, the eBooks are being distributed with holding covers. IFP says the official new covers will remain "top secret a while longer."

IFP reveals new 70th Anniversary logo

In celebration of #CasinoRoyale turning 70 this year, we are beyond thrilled to share our brand new #70yearsof007 logo. Here's to a Bond-tastic 2023. pic.twitter.com/dAGYjPvtoH

— Ian Fleming (@TheIanFleming) January 4, 2023

BRINGING BOND HOME with Corinne Turner and Simon Ward

Here's an interview with Corinne Turner and Simon Ward of Ian Fleming Publications by David Lowbridge-Ellis of Licence To Queer. David is able to coax out a few details about the recently announced 70th Anniversary reprints of the Ian Fleming novels by IFP under their own imprint. Enjoy.

For a curated collection of video links about the literary James Bond such as the above, check out The Book Bond on YouTube.

IFP to publish BOND books under its own imprint in 2023

As promised, Ian Fleming Publications have made a big announcement on this "James Bond Day." Below is their press release in full:

Welcome home, 007: Ian Fleming Publications to publish James Bond books under its own imprint in spring 2023

LONDON. Today, Wednesday 5 October, ‘James Bond Day’: Ian Fleming Publications Ltd (IFPL) announces plans to publish Ian Fleming’s books under its own imprint – a move that marks an exciting future for 007.

Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, the family company that owns the literary copyright in his books, will be honouring the legacy of James Bond’s creator by producing its own editions of the 007 novels as well as non-fiction and the children’s classic Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang.

The imprint – Ian Fleming Publications – will launch fresh editions in the UK and Commonwealth markets in spring 2023. Fleming’s original Bond novels and short story collections will be available from 13 April, exactly 70 years to the day after Ian Fleming first introduced special agent 007 to the world with the publication of Casino Royale. To date, since 1953, more than one hundred million Bond books have been sold worldwide.

Initially, new editions of the original adventures will be released in paperback and as eBooks, with covers by the design company Webb & Webb. Prestige hardbacks and limited editions will follow.

The logo for Ian Fleming Publications and The Ian Fleming Estate has long been the swallow tail hummingbird and it will be used as the colophon on books published by the imprint. The swallow tail hummingbird – or ‘doctor bird’ – is the national bird of Jamaica, the spiritual home of James Bond and where Ian Fleming famously wrote the legendary adventures. The doctor bird logo is the Fleming mark of authenticity and quality.

Ian Fleming Publications will be led by Managing Director Corinne Turner, alongside Simon Ward, Publishing Manager.

Corinne Turner comments: “IFPL has enjoyed many years' collaboration with publishing partners Random House and Penguin, but we feel it is time for a change of direction. The 70th anniversary of Casino Royale is an ideal opportunity to bring publication of Ian’s books in-house, enabling us to engage directly with readers and fans. We hope our new editions will reach as wide an audience as possible, attracting long-time readers as well those who have yet to discover the Bond novels.”

Fergus Fleming, Ian Fleming’s nephew, adds: “Before he wrote best-selling novels, Ian was a publisher. That IFP should publish his own books completes the circle.”

The website – www.ianfleming.com – already a destination for anyone interested in Fleming, his life and his literary works, will be developed throughout 2023 to house a direct-to-consumer shop, as well as newsletters, competitions, features and treasures from the archive. There will be exclusives and bonus content for those who sign up to the mailing list.

The Curtis Brown Group, IFPL’s literary agent, will continue to manage subsidiary rights licensing for the new imprint. Jonny Geller, CEO said: “Ian Fleming Publications has always been an innovative, dynamic and inventive manager of Ian Fleming’s work and everyone at Curtis Brown is looking forward to working with them on this next exciting stage. Finding a new generation of readers of James Bond has always been the top priority and IFPL’s publishing plans of the classic original novels will do this with huge energy and creativity.”

Ian Fleming Publications will be working closely with core high street retailers, independent book shops and libraries to ensure Ian’s 007 stories can be accessed by everyone. Sales and distribution will be handled by Turnaround, while Faber Factory will be handling the eBooks.

The move marks a new direction for Ian Fleming publishing as the 10-year licensing agreement with Penguin Random House (Vintage), for the UK and Commonwealth, comes to an end. IFPL will continue to work with partners internationally.

IFP teases James Bond Day announcement

 Fingers crossed for a new continuation novel.

👀👀👀

See you on James Bond Day! #007 pic.twitter.com/RR0PX0iBhP

— Ian Fleming (@TheIanFleming) September 15, 2022