The difference in price can be surprising, Moonraker for example is notorious for dulling to the flame pattern on the jacket, especially at the spine, and as a result genuinely bright, unrestored or tampered with examples can exceed £12,000, even at auction. In regard to the earlier James Bond first editions, especially the first three titles, finding them in very good+ condition is very difficult, often resulting in collectors accepting copies with some wear to jacket extremities, price-clipping or similar some collectors prefer to get such jackets restored professionally where possible, though the trend for this goes up & down. Moonraker).Ĭondition Condition for most Fleming collectors is paramount, even the later Bond titles in the Richard Chopping dust-jackets can vary wildly in price depending on condition, and the market has become increasingly fussy compared to 10-15 years ago, browning and moderate age wear to '60s era jackets can now see the value drop to a tenth of what a committed collector might expect to pay for a truly superb example. Casino Royale) and Too Hot to Handle (a.k.a. Real completists might seek out all the variant issues and uncorrected publisher's proofs for example others might enjoy hunting down foreign-language editions which sometimes bore alternative artwork, and yet others enjoy hunting the paperback editions, some of which are scarce in their own right, including the intriguing, luridly-titled You Asked for It (a.k.a. Like many collectable authors, there are numerous spin-offs and subsequent editions that appeal to some collectors.

It was also issued in a transparent plastic dust-jacket, the original of which is not always easy to distinguish and again can require the expertise of someone who has seen other copies to correctly identify.

Special Editions Special mention should be made of the only official, special edition of a James Bond first edition by Ian Fleming, which is the deluxe edition of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963) this was issued simultaneously with the first 'trade edition', but is specially bound in vellum-backed boards in a stated limitation of 250 signed copies (though an additional 35 were produced for presentation), and features a colour portrait of the author by Amherst Villiers.

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