Anybody got £475,000 they don't need...?
Ferinstal
North of Londinium...Posts: 310MI6 Agent
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-55917614
It appears those first editions hold their value pretty well!
It appears those first editions hold their value pretty well!
Yes. Considerably.
Comments
Considerable I'd imagine.
Lovely collection. The price of Fleming Bond first editions just keeps on rising. Being inscribed by Fleming himself doesn't do any harm of course!
The value here is the signed aspect. I've never seen a FULLY signed 1st edition set before...and probably never will again. However, when it comes to signed copies, the Holy Grail is the inscribed copy of Casino Royale to James Bond (author BOTWI). Collectors know where it was 20 years ago but it has since disappeared into private collections having changed hands a couple of times. Estimates vary as to it's current worth but it would certainly supersede the price of the entire collection noted above. Even if I won the lottery I think my wife would divorce me if I found and bought it. I'm sure I wouldn't miss her for long.
Welcome to AJB, @Snowman1964! It's good to have someone on board who knows the current values these Fleming editions go for. I just hope that your wife doesn't read AJB as well as yourself or you could be in the doghouse! 😀
That's amazing. Do you know how much it went for the last time it was seen?
The last time it changed hands (that we know of) was at auction in 2008 for £56,000 and, we believe (although cannot confirm), has since been sold on privately twice. The last estimate I heard of was at least ten times that auction price but let's be honest, it's entirely speculative as is the current owner. The private sale information may also be incorrect although it certainly makes sense.
I'm sure that most of you know the story, but to repeat again...
Fleming was at home one afternoon at Goldeneye (his estate in St. Annes, Jamaica) in 1964 and received a knock at his door (he didn't have a doorbell). On answering he was confronted by James Bond (the American ornithologist who wrote "Birds of the West Indies) and his wife. Bond was on his annual winter holiday in St. Annes and he and his wife decided to visit and introduce themselves. Fleming was an avid bird watcher and the two became friends for the brief remainder of his life. Fleming presented him with a first edition Cape copy of "You Only Live Twice" from his personal library and penned "To the real James Bond, from the thief of his identity" and signed his full name (he often only signed "Ian" or "I"). Fleming decided this was the ideal book and wrote to Bond's wife stating that "a second James Bond was born" when the name was used. He also said humorously in the same letter that Bond could have unlimited use of the name Ian Fleming.
Fleming was an avid book collector and well aware the value of signed first editions so this in itself was unusual. He was always reluctant to sign his own work. It took years for both David Niven and Noel Coward, (both of whom were close friends of Fleming) to persuade him to do the same for them. There are a few signed book notations to a number of females (you can draw your own conclusions) but nothing else like this.
I must confess to not being an expert of Fleming hardback editions as my specialism lies in Fleming paperbacks but I really like the story. It gives an insight into Flemings comical side more so, I would suggest, than the mischievous innuendos of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Great stuff, thank you. It would certainly be the one to have.
Yes, thank you indeed for those fascinating additional details, @Snowman1964. I'd just add that the day the real James Bond visited Goldeneye Fleming was coincidentally being interviewed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and that there is a short piece of film of the two together, as well as a photograph. This short piece of film is included on the FRWL UE DVD I believe.
And for interest, the meeting is re-enacted in the 1989 "Goldeneye" with Charles Dance as Fleming and Reg Gadney as James Bond- the meta joke being that Gadney was the film's writer.
Ah, yes. I've only seen that once but I remember it being very good. I need to watch it again. I have a DVD of it somewhere that came free with a newspaper once though it may now be commercially available as a DVD too.
Just a quick addendum regarding signed copies in general. Other than the fact that Fleming was reluctant to sign copies of his own work, he rarely signed without notation and tended to avoid signatures on cover pages. Anyone coming across a signed copy without notation should be wary. Also, a couple of years ago I was offered a signed copy of Octopussy which presented problems. Along with TMWTGG Fleming would have found difficulty in signing either of these books due be being dead at the time.
😂😂😂
If memory serves me correctly, I believe that signed copy of Octopussy was discovered in a dead letter box. 😎
Obviously it had to be a misinformation campaign by pesky SPECTRE agents.
Ornithologist James Bond (1900-1989) meeting Ian Fleming (1908-1964) at Goldeneye villa ( February 5, 1964) near Oracabessa - Jamaica.
An interesting story indeed, moreover as Ian Fleming already possessed very first editions of '"You Only Live Twice"' of which the first UK editions became available March 26, 1964 onwards. 🧐
Looking forward to some exciting 60th & 70th anniversaries coming up the next couple of years...