Cape First Edition Reprints - any info?
HalfMonk HalfHitman
USAPosts: 2,353MI6 Agent
My father-in-law recently gave me two hardcovers of Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice. Both are reproductions of the Jonathan Cape first edition hardcovers. They come in protective cases, and there is no marking on them besides a newer print date to indicate "reproduction", though they definitely are. Just looking for some info - how many of these were published? Were they widely available? I can't find them on Ebay (or couldn't last week, at least). Any help is appreciated.
Comments
I have a full set of those books (as, I'm sure do a number of other members).
They were a set called the Ian Fleming First Edition Library (or something like that) that was offered on a monthly subscription from the Easton Press, which was connected to the good ol' Danbury Mint.
I recall first seeing the collection advertised in the late 1990's but it was offered again in 2001, which is when I bought my set. Each copy cost just under £30 (incl. p+p) and I also recall that the Easton Press at the time also offered a leatherbound version, which I think cost a lot more than the standard books with the reproduction dustjackets.
The books were not issued to the customer in the order in which they were originally published. For example, the first one to arrive was Octopussy - which was as much a copy sent on sale-or-return approval, to encourage the customer to subscribe - and Live and Let Die was the final book I received.
The books apparently originated from the USA and the collection was frequently beset with delays in delivery to the UK. It actually took me almost two years to obtain the full set of 14 books (which should really only have taken just over a year to complete).
I saw a couple of them for sale in a book shop in Hay on Wye a few years ago, but as you say, I cannot recall seeing any individual copies (or a full set)being offered on Ebay.
Hope this information is of some use.
Steve
260243371244
290233232647
There also a fair number of original hardbacks for sale there, too.
Steve
You will see it on Ebay all the time - about $35-$200+ depending on the titles and where the books are located - seems to command higer price in UK.
I.e. can I buy from any year and they won't look odd on the shelf size wise once all collected, packaging wise etc (guess they are identical since its the whole point of FEL apart from the text stating print year)