Anniversary BONDS for 2024

HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to another year of The Book Bond. Here's a rundown of the Bond novels that will be celebrating notable anniversaries this year. Break out the bookmarks and champagne!

70th Anniversary

Ian Fleming's second Bond novel brings 007 to the United States on the trail of gangsters and pirate treasure. Live and Let Die was published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on April 5, 1954.

60th Anniversary

Ian Fleming sends James Bond to Japan in You Only Live Twice, published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on March 26, 1964. It was released in the U.S. in August by the New American Library.

40th Anniversary

John Gardner planned to take a break after his inital three book contract, but 1984 saw the suprise publication of his fourth Bond, Role of Honor, relased by Putnam in the U.S. in September and Jonathan Cape in the UK on October 4.

30th Anniversary

John Garder nears the end of his run with his 13th orginal Bond adventure, SeaFire, first published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton in August 1994 and by Putnam in the U.S. in September. 

25th Anniversary

My favorite Raymond Benson Bond novel, High Time To Kill, turns 25 this year. The book was published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton on May 6, 1999. The U.S. edition from Putnam (pictured here) was published on June 7, 1999.

10th Anniversary

Steve Cole continues the Young Bond series with his debute novel, Shoot To Kill, which finds young James in action in Hollywood. The book was released in the UK by Random House on November 6, 2014. There was no U.S. release.

Happy reading!

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.

HARPER COLLINS reveals 2023 cover art

American publisher Harper Collins has revealed some cover art for their Ian Fleming reprints next year. Pretty uninspired. Not much more to say than that. 

Presumably these are not the covers for the new IFP published Bond novels in the UK that will mark the 70th Anniversary next year. Those should be something special.

Thanks to Brisco at Double O Section for the alert.

Inscribed LIVE AND LET DIE sells for $250,000

A first UK edition of Live and Let Die inscribed by Ian Fleming to Winston Churchill sold today in Sotheby's "James Bond: A Collection of Books and Manuscripts, The Property of a Gentleman" auction for £189,000 ($249,647). This has got to easily be the highest price every paid for a James Bond book.

Ian Fleming's final revised typescript for Diamonds are Forever took £138,600 ($183,074). 

You can browse all the prices realized HERE.

LIVE AND LET DIE now shipping from Amazon

Even though Amazon shows a January 14 release date, my copy of Dynamite's Live and Let Die graphic novel arrived at my door today. I had passed on their Casino Royale (how many versions of that book do I need?), but I'm excited by the idea of the other Fleming novels receiving faithful comic adaptations. I'm especially looking forward to Moonraker, although that has yet to be announced.

Purchase Live and Let Die from Amazon.com.

The Folio Society releases LIVE AND LET DIE

The Folio Society has released their next illustrated slip-cased Ian Fleming classic, Live and Let Die.

Live and Let Die is the eighth volume in the enormously popular Folio Bond collection. Fay Dalton continues her excellent work as the series artist, bringing exquisite glamour and tension to the page with each volume. This time round Bond’s mission takes him into the eerie world of the occult, and Dalton makes particular use of light and dark to heighten the drama: the night sky turns the sea a baleful orange in one image, while Mr Big’s underground lair almost seems to echo with dripping water. As ever, Dalton takes particular care with the glamorous figure of Bond’s love interest, and the Solitaire she has created is beautiful and filled with quiet defiance.

The Live and Let Die Folio Edition is priced at $62.95 and is available now from the Folio Society website.

Also available are illustrated editions of Casino Royale, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, Goldfinger and Thunderball.

IAN FLEMING Vintage Classic hardcovers released

Three new "Vintage Classic" hardcover editions of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale, Live and Let Die and Goldfinger have been released in the UK.  The books sport beautiful original cover art and endpapers by Levente Szabo, and include never-before-seen material from the Ian Fleming and Jonathan Cape archives, including letters, documents and photographs. Each book also has an introduction by writer, flim-maker and James Bond expert John Cork.

Purchase from Amazon.co.uk: Casino Royale | Live and Let Die | Goldfinger.

IFP reveals new JAMES BOND hardcovers

Ian Fleming Publications has officially revealed the three new James Bond hardcovers to be released by Vintage Classic in the UK in November. The books include new introductions by John Cork.

Introducing, new Ian Fleming hardback special editions of 3 of James Bond's finest adventures. Vintage UK will be releasing these fantastic new editions of CASINO ROYALE, LIVE AND LET DIE and GOLDFINGER in November 2017. 

The editions include brand new introductions from Bond expert and writer John Cork, with scintillating new designs by Brisk Graphics artist Levente Szabo.

Pre-order from Amazon.co.uk: Casino Royale | Live and Let Die | Goldfinger.

New VINTAGE CLASSICS James Bond covers previewed

Draft covers for the upcoming Vintage Classic James Bond hardcovers have appeared on Amazon. Below are Casino Royale and Live and Let Die. If you click over to the CommaderBond.net Twitter, you can also see Goldfinger (which is not currently shown on Amazon). Very nice!

Thanks to CommanderBond.net on Twitter @CBn007.

Recreating James Bond's meals from the Fleming novels

The UK Daily Mail Online has a terrific piece about New York photographer Henry Hargreaves's "Dying To Eat" project in which he recreated and photographed several James Bond meals from the orginal Ian Fleming novels. The meals were cooked by fellow food artist, Charlotte Omnes.

Little neck clams and fried chicken Maryland with bacon and sweet corn from Live And Let Die

 As Elliot Carver would say: "Delicious."

Click here to see all the meals at the Daily Mail.

LIVE AND LET DIE turns 60

Today marks the 60th anniversary of Ian Fleming's second James Bond novel, Live And Let Die, which was published April 5, 1954 by Jonathan Cape in the UK. Here's my own first edition hardcover. Still looking pretty good after 60 years!

Thanks to my good buddy Anders Frejdh of From Sweden With Love for the reminder of this milestone.

First edition of LIVE AND LET DIE sells for $21,258

(Source: WhatSellsBest.com) - A rare first edition of Ian Fleming's, James Bond, Live and Let Die fetched $21,258 (£13,750) soaring well above its high-estimate ($6,000/£4,000) at a recent Christie's auction.

Live and Let Die, was the second novel in Fleming's James Bond series. It was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on April 5th, 1954. Copies in good condition are in-demand by collectors.

This particular book was described by Christie's as; "(a) First edition of the second bond novel, in an attractive example of the first issue dust jacket, with the price '10s.6d. Net' and blurb on the front flap, and without any credit for the jacket design."

Live and Let Die had an initial print run of only 7,500 copies, which quickly sold-out after its April release in 1954. Because of the small supply, and the amount of time that has passed (58 years for this particular book), it's very rare to find a first-run copy in excellent condition with the original dust jacket still intact.

Thanks to James Massey for the tip.

Bantam's BOND

Well, the last series I featured here, the Jove paperbacks, received a drubbing in the comments, with several of my UK friends complaining (justifiably) that they were far too "American" in their look and design. So to redeem the USA, here is another U.S. series -- which I'd say is just as "American" in look and vibe -- but one that I find pretty darn terrific! In fact, as far as cover paintings go, this might actually be one of the very best paperback series of them all, and it's a shame Bantam only did a handful of the books in this style.

Bantam first entered the Bond game in May 1969 when it published the paperback edition of Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis. The book featured original cover art by the great Frank C. McCarthy, who in conjunction with Robert McGinnis painted the classic Bond movie posters for Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Then, starting in May 1971, Bantam released more Bond titles with McCarthy artwork, including Casino Royale, From Russia With Love, and Doctor No. The new series featured a bold JAMES BOND down the side and a tag-line touting the books a "All-Time" Bestsellers. Bantam would also reissue Colonel Sun with the new series look (this is a rare one), and finished off the year with a tie-in edition of Diamonds are Forever featuring movie poster art.

Bantam came back in June 1972 with a new edition of Goldfinger featuring McCarthy artwork that offered a rare glimpse of nudity. While they kept the "All-Time" tag, they didn't continue the series look, but instead established a new visual link -- first established on their Diamonds Are Forever tie-in -- of featuring the 007 movie logo on the backs of the books. In March 1973 they released Moonraker with the 007 logo backing and the same font as their DAF tie-in, but with very different "mod" cover art by an uncredited artist (which I still love as representative of its time). Perhaps had they continued the series we would have gotten more mod Bond covers like this?

Bantam concluded their run with a Live and Let Die tie-in released in July 1973. Ironically, this one would not feature the 007 movie logo on the back.

Speaking of movie art, elements of McCarthy's Colonel Sun artwork would later find their way onto the Thai poster for Never Say Never Again (1983).

Bantam's two movie tie-in editions.

Bantam U.S. paperback publication order:

Colonel Sun - May 1969

Casino Royale - May 1971

From Russia With Love - May 1971

Doctor No - July 1971

Colonel Sun (series art reissue) - ?

Diamond Are Forever (movie tie-in) - December 1971

Goldfinger - June 1972

Moonraker - March 1973

Live And Let Die (movie tie-in) - July 1973

Bonjour Monsieur Bond

Our friends at the leading French Bond website jamesbond-fr.com have revealed the cover art for a new French edition of Ian Fleming's Live and Let Die. A beauty! (Click to see a larger version on their site.)

The website reports that French publisher Bragelonne is reprinting all the original Ian Fleming novels. Casino Royale was released last year with poster cover art from the 2006 film. This new Live and Let Die will be published on November 22. Moonraker will appear in June 2008.

In other French literary Bond news, Charlie Higson's Young Bond novel Double or Die will be published as Poker fatal by Gallimard on November 15. Watch our sister site The Young Bond Dossier for release news and final cover art.