Taschen The James Bond Archives GOLD (Art) Edition..A
ppw3o6r
Great BritainPosts: 2,280MI6 Agent
Chrimbo comes early...it is said that all that glitters is not GOLD!....Oh yes it is 
Not much was known about the £650 Art Edition of Taschen's excellent The James Bond Archives, even the cover image on their website was & is a prototype design so what makes this so special compared to the superb £135 regular edition?
Well first off as a Gold Edition its bindings are embossed gold leather, the edges of the pages are gold leaf, some bloke named Daniel Craig hand signed each numbered edition & if that isn't enough editions 1-250 come with a Goldfinger art print signed by Sir Ken Adam presented in a stunning hard backed 80cm x 45cm art portfolio, an absolute must have for a Goldfinger nut like myself. Edition A was an immediate Sold Out with the publishers before its release date of 21/12/12 however there is a B Edition which is identical to the A Edition but with a You Only Live Twice art print signed by Sir Ken Adam. This signed edition much like Hollywood Archive Collectibles Pierce Brosnan signed Goldeneye senigraphs of 1995 is almost the only guaranteed way to obtain a piece personally hand signed by the current James Bond 007 who is perhaps the Best since Sylvia Trench admired the gent in questions luck?
For those who know me the edition number could not have been more apt for a nut of my calibre
Not much was known about the £650 Art Edition of Taschen's excellent The James Bond Archives, even the cover image on their website was & is a prototype design so what makes this so special compared to the superb £135 regular edition?
Well first off as a Gold Edition its bindings are embossed gold leather, the edges of the pages are gold leaf, some bloke named Daniel Craig hand signed each numbered edition & if that isn't enough editions 1-250 come with a Goldfinger art print signed by Sir Ken Adam presented in a stunning hard backed 80cm x 45cm art portfolio, an absolute must have for a Goldfinger nut like myself. Edition A was an immediate Sold Out with the publishers before its release date of 21/12/12 however there is a B Edition which is identical to the A Edition but with a You Only Live Twice art print signed by Sir Ken Adam. This signed edition much like Hollywood Archive Collectibles Pierce Brosnan signed Goldeneye senigraphs of 1995 is almost the only guaranteed way to obtain a piece personally hand signed by the current James Bond 007 who is perhaps the Best since Sylvia Trench admired the gent in questions luck?
For those who know me the edition number could not have been more apt for a nut of my calibre
Comments
Pics John!!!
Wow ppw3o6r, it really does look spectacular in gold. Feel sorry for us poor buggers that have ordered the Golden Edition B though, had printing delays and last week was supposed to be with us Friday, then Saturday. Still waiting, so will have to contact them after Xmas now. Not angry, but just would have been nice to have it to peruse tomorrow! Looks like it will be worth the wait though. Tell me, Daniel's autograph in the book, has he signed it 'DC' or his full name?
Full signature. Am having trouble downloading additional images..Chrimbo weather I guess
I got the standard version yesterday which blew me away
I did checked out my YOLT artwork and it is spectacular!
The packaging is 1st class.
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Whichever edition you have?...you will love it.....enjoy -{
Do you have any images of that Hollywood Archive Collectibles Pierce Brosnan signed Goldeneye senigraph? First time hearing of this one.
The Gold Bond Archives book looks great. The normal is not bad either. I've been reading through it every night with a different Bond drink for the 50th anniversary. 600 pages! I have a long way to go still. Not even halfway through. I probably would have picked up the Gold version if some of the other Bonds signed it as well. This probably is the best Bond book I've ever seen with all the quotes and photos.
You are going to be seriously drunk at the end of that one!
The Gold edition will not make reading it any better - in fact I imagine most gold ones will not be read so as not to devalue them. Its primary purpose is now not a book but a gold lump in a box. Its lovely and shiny though, very attractive to us Gollums
Hi, the senigraph is a single frame of original 35mm print which was printed onto canvas. Because of this process it looks better the further you are away from it much like a regular painted canvas as you lose the detail up close & its also difficult to photograph through glass. The image itself measures 76cm x 45cm (105cm x 91cm framed). Each one was embossed with the United Artists logo and was hand signed and numbered in pencil by Pierce Brosnan & as it was back in 1995 his best full signature was utilised. This was the first time a Bond actor had signed a limited edition high end product (which was not a book) in conjunction with MGM/EON. There were 3 different designs: Bond Prologue, No More Foreplay featuring Bond pointing his PPK at Xenia Onatopp...slurpy! and Baccarat which was a head shot of Pierce in the Casino where he met Xenia for the first time. There were 2 different sizes retailing at between $900-$1800. Each edition also featured 3 or 6 original film frames from the featured scene in question making no two senigraphs 100% identical. The frames were back lit from a button built into the bottom of the frame. These were truly limited editions with only 25 of each of the larger size being produced. I believe the smaller size (image measuring 39cm x 24cm) was available as a 250 piece edition.
True. If it had every Bond signature I probably would buy it and put it in a display case. No real reason it shouldn't except for maybe Connery with his issues. And perhaps the way Brosnan was treated.
Also, I'm careful with my drink. Only 2 to 3 and it's away from the book. There are some funny quotes in it too. The one about Connery jumping out of the pool so fast in Thunderball he was dry.
Thanks for the images. I could barely afford the automatic Omega back then. Both of these would have been too much. I probably would want a Brosnan signature from The World is not Enough a bit more anyways. He did a few pictures with the Z8 that are almost as iconic as the Connery DB5 photos. Where did you find out about these senigraphs back in the day? I only remember getting the reproduction Goldeneye teaser poster from I think a VHS offer.
You can tell if its a taschen under the tree if you kick it - it won't move!
If you have imperfections in the gold leather which look like rubs as mine has this may be from the original hide where the gold staining did not cover once the surface is broken. Mine also had a crumpled outer black card sleeve with an undamaged outer packing case. I sent photographic evidence to Taschen & have received a very prompt courteous reply assuring me they will get back to me in the new year. It is my belief that the card cover got crumpled in the shrink wrapping process.
Sorry to hear you guys are having issues. Slightly off topic, I've decided to save for the regular version, but is it a limited print? I don't wanna save then find when I've got the coin it's gone out if print and the only thing available being a highly priced opportunist ad on evilbay.
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I may be wrong but the first edition comes with original 35mm film frames from Dr.No. Perhaps the second edition will not include these film frames?. First editions are starting to go for silly money on Evilbay especially when such sources as Amazon still retail the edition. It really is a fantastic book for the money mate.
If there are no replacement volumes available? as the A edition was a pre-release sold out, I'm hoping the cover issues can be addressed by the original binders. Initially I've requested a replacement black card embossed cover. I must admit I thought the cover would have been a bit more substantial/robust for such a heavy volume. I believe it was originally advertised as a clam shell cover to encase the volume. For me the selling point of the volume was the signed Sir Ken Adam Goldfinger art print & this stunning piece is where the money has gone along with Mr Craig's signature of course. As for condition, mine has other issues which I will not raise here although I will update on the outcome. I am surprised that QC was not of a higher standard as my basic £135 volume was 100% perfect.
Yes, it was advertised as clamshell as I recall. The selling point of the volume was also the same for me-I mean, I wouldn't give a damn about the outer box so much if the book itself was intact, but neither of the two are. Daniel's auto and Ken's print are intact, but as I say, the presentation of the book leaves a lot to be desired. I'm pretty sure on this forum, many of whom are hardcore collectors, you would be hard pushed to find someone who would shrug their shoulders and say, it's fine, if they had received my copy. Feel free to PM me if you want about the other issues, I would like to be able to talk to Taschen and show other people have had issues too, if it's not just a one off. If you don't feel like sharing in a PM, it's okay, but I'd like to hear what other issues you had with it. If do want to share but you tell me not to mention your issues to Taschen, I'll not discuss them. Yes, it seems a shame when I'm sure there were a lot of the standard editions sold that had no problems. When I pay more money, I expect more quality-I'm sure I'm probably not alone!
Thanks texas007-I'd appreciate that.
Ross
Certainly not from Taschen now Ross-both Editions A and B are sold out. I saw other sites like Amazon offering them for sale before they were released, but I don't think they had them to begin with-as far as I know the only place you could get them were from Taschen directly. I did see one of the 'A' ones on ebay shortly after it was released but that's the only other place I've seen them. Though as they are limited, you probably won't have too many people selling the golden editions.
Taschen did mention on their site that the regular edition with the Dr. No film strip is sold out. So, it's a guessing game now if Amazon or other retailers will have the first printing or not. Taschen didn't update their site with a second print cover if there is one. The strip is just in a plastic holder on the first page. There is a note mentioning it as well. I don't know what people are doing with the strip other than leaving it in the book.
I had to get a second copy of my standard edition. I had a page tear/defect. Lucky for me I'm paranoid and page through all my books as I've received defective books in the past. I noticed that the book also has a photo/printing defect in the Quantum of Solace section. There is some color blotching. At least on the two copies that I've seen. I can get the page, if you guys want to do comparisons.
Bought from Amazon US - so no problem.
No problem on this one ..... whew -{
Thanks for checking for me texas007, I do appreciate. Nothing that could be considered as a defect then with your Golden Edition package or the book itself? I just must have been unlucky then.