I’m not sure what the print runs were but seeing they are scarce nowadays I would imagine quite low. Less than a handful passed through my hands and all in early days when prices were low. Both first editions will get you 1000+ GBP in nice condition nowadays. I don’t have them myself.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
I wish theyd used this artwork for the paperbacks, which are quite unimaginative, especially the first one
still theyre odd for Bond covers, or even spynovels in general. Now I look close I see theres a gun beside the rose, so that makes it kind of spy-ish, but its subtle. I've looked at that picture before and never spotted the gun.
I've theorised before: the painting represents the moment Anya gets the note from her bosses letting her know Bond killed her lover, the note is accompanied by a rose which has been delivered to her. Wood plays up this angle more in the book than was done in the film, its more like the main plot and Stromberg is the b-plot
. . . . .
this paperback is much better than the one I have with the basic photo of Moore. I've never seen this in the wild or i wouldve grabbed it as an upgrade. it even looks something like the PAN film tie-ins. I wonder why Panther went with the dullest possible cover design?
The MR artwork is great too, with the Moonraker shuttle, the Earth, space suited heroine, a porthole, a gun and the deadly orchid. I have to say, of all the Bond hardback covers over the decades, these two have immediately shot up the ladder almost to the very top. Quite amazing.
And I agree @caractacus potts, the Panther film tie in is quite possibly one of the worst OO7 covers ever.
@caractacus potts and @chrisno1 I agree - the hardback covers are gorgeous and ties-in (teehee) with my long standing view that Christopher Wood was the best author of them all that followed Fleming. And the Panther cover is abysmal - I’m sure that Pan would have used something like the Warner cover had they still had the licence.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Jack Oleck was primarily a comicbook writer but he did turn his hand to two Amicus movie tie-ins and two paperback books from DC’s House Of Mystery comics series where he adapted the graphic stories into written shorts. These are highly prized nowadays and go for a lot of money.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I know the first Spy Who Loved Me paperback cover is kind of dull but somehow I like it, A lot of the film tie-ins got a bit cluttered. I don't see how the hardback version ties in with the film at all.
Here's one to match @CoolHandBond 's current situation.
While on a search for volcano pulp fiction to amuse/outrage coolhandbond, the search engine threw up these:
Not sure where we are with kinky Nazi imagery - this does seem to have been a theme in the last 60s and 70s - sort of Nazi exploitation stuff under the veneer of social conscience, like those disclaimers at the beginning of a B-movie purporting to warn folk of unsavoury content, and how it serves as a warning, when it's actually an enticement.
Someone noticed that if a swastika was put on the cover of a thriller, it boosted sales. Not suggesting it was snapped up by incipient Nazis, though to point out the 'appeal' should not be as controversial a comment as it seems; it's like observing that hard drugs are appealing; they would be or some wouldn't be drawn to them in such numbers.
Is it true such kinky prose was ushered in on the back of the Lady Chatterly ruling, or were the covers not aways representative?
Incidentally, the first cover was up on eBay so now rather incriminatingly it shows up on my 'Recently Viewed' even though I wasn't logged on to eBay at the time! I sense I will be caught up in an algorithm's downward spiral.
I didnt know about these House of Mystery prose books CoolHand, thanks for finding those
House of Mystery was a longrunning DC comic book, started as a rather mild horror comic in the early 1950s, became a science fiction comic in the late 50s after horror comics were the victim of moral panic, then a superhero comic in the 60s, finally turning back into a much better horror comic in the late 60s as the Comics Code eased and running for another 15 years. those paperbacks are using the classic logo of the 1970s/80s version of the title. DC's 70s horror comics were known for really good artwork by Berni Wrightson, Wally Wood, Sergio Arogenes, Neal Adams, Michael Kaluta and many others. Jack Oleck was one of the writers
the Amicus films you mention, Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror, are based on the old EC horror comics of the early 1950s, considered to be some of the finest comic books of all time by comics history aficionados. here you can see the covers of every issue of Tales from the Crypt (starts with issue 17) and Vault of Horror, (starts with issue 12). These also were known for great artwork, especially from “ghastly” Graham Ingels and Jack Davis
NP - I’m only familiar with the Angry Mountain cover, the other two are new to me but very good covers. I have covered Nazi artwork before, it was always extremely popular, especially the mens adventure monthly magazines that were prevalent in the 60’s - they would sell like hotcakes and £100 per issue for the more lurid issues would be an average estimation. I actually had several of these removed by eBay when I traded on there for a short while, but I gained several new mail-order customers during the time they were posted and removed.
CP - thanks for your detailed contribution on the comics, and the links that are excellent! I didn’t sell comics in my shop, only magazines, I just didn’t have the space, but I had thousands come my way during those working years, some of which I kept for myself and the rest went to a comicbook dealer where we would share the profits. Comicbook values for key issues have gone insane in recent years and I wish I’d kept them now!
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Going back a few posts, the reason that Spy Who Loved Me tie-in may not have been used so much is because the actual title of Wood's book is 'James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me' presumably to differentiate it from Fleming's title. Just as the follow-up was 'James Bond And Moonraker' and not just 'Moonraker'. However, that particular book cover ignores that. It is a bit messy and cluttered, having to put on the name of Roger Moore and various others too. It joins Live And Let Die as the only film tie-in to go with the straight poster shot though the JB & Moonraker paperback does of course use the poster albeit the teaser trailer of just Moore in tux and space suit.
My next few posts are going to feature covers from the prolific American publishing house, Signet. And where better to start than the James Bond books which they held the licence for…
To be continued…or James Bond will be back in…
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I've never seen these two before, its the others with the text in a vertical stripe that I am more familiar with. I think those were contemporary to the mid60s Hawkey PANs, and like them probably printed in huge numbers at the height of Bondmania.
does the fact theres no Moonraker for these earlier covers mean they only used that format for the first two books, before switching to the new cover format?
There is indeed a MR version @caractacus potts my failing brain forgot to add this to the above, so here it is…
And here is DAF (I don’t think Signet had an alternate version of this one, but will be happy to be proved wrong)
And some more…(this may not be the exhaustive Signet output but ones that I can find)
Just to clarify my input into this thread - any facts are taken from various other websites (with grateful thanks) - I usually only post books that I have actually sold in the past - sales prices are those that I achieved unless otherwise noted, and sales trends apply to my shop only, they are not supposed to reflect national or international trends which may well be different.
To be continued…
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
that first Dr No appears to be of the same series as the first Casino Royale and Live and Let Die, and the Moonraker you posted is promoting Dr No! so there may have been a Diamonds... and a ...Russia... with that cover layout as well... I'll look round online and see what I can find
the Diamonds are Forever you posted illustrates the same scene of Tiffany in her underwear that was on the early 60sPANs! everybody seems to have thought thats the most interesting scene in the book, its pretty much the only scene that made it into the movie
and the From Russia with Love is a subtle film tie-in! what I notice is it uses the vertical text of the better know signer series, but does not use the serif-y fonts
aha! the 007 Magazine websiteof course has encyclopedic info on the Signets (and the earlier American paperbacks from other publishers)
here's their info on the first Signet series, those covers with IAN FLEMING in bold non-serif font spread the width of the cover (artwork by Barye Phillips)
007 Magazine said:
Signet Books (the paperback imprint of the New American Library) issued Ian Fleming's novels starting with the first US paperback of FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE in September 1958, followed by DOCTOR NO in June 1959. The company then acquired the rights to the first four James Bond novels, and re-issued LIVE AND LET DIE in October 1959 and CASINO ROYALE (under its original title) in February 1960. The first US paperback edition of GOLDFINGER was published in June 1960, with MOONRAKER added to the range four months later. This also marked the first time Ian Fleming's third novel was published in the USA under its original title. All of the paperbacks had cover artwork painted by Barye Phillips (1924–1969), and the last four covers state that the novel was a James Bond Thriller by the author of DOCTOR NO, as this was the most well-known title in the USA at the time. In June 1961 the FOR YOUR EYES ONLY anthology made its American debut in paperback, also featuring a painted cover by Barye Phillips.
so all the way up to For Your Eyes Only, though that one doesn't actually fit the early format, only the first seven are consistent
the better known series, with serif fonts and the words A JAMES BOND THRILLER in a vertical stripe along one edge, began in 1961
that site has disabled image-linking or I'd paste the remaining covers here
Comments
They don't look too shabby to me! Did you get them at the time or acquire them later?
They are serviceable at best 👀
Picked both of them up from second hand book stores many, many years ago 😳
Still nice to have a copy in some form. You were lucky to find them. I've never seen them in the wild sadly.
Well done, @Sir Miles!
I imagine that these had quite a small print run as hardbacks which must add to their scarcity and value.
Very nice @Sir Miles
I’m not sure what the print runs were but seeing they are scarce nowadays I would imagine quite low. Less than a handful passed through my hands and all in early days when prices were low. Both first editions will get you 1000+ GBP in nice condition nowadays. I don’t have them myself.
I suppose that the main push was on the paperback editions of both novelisations which are much more plentiful.
Both are first editions, but are ex-library…but nice to have…😀
Hardback print runs were limited for Bond continue authors for awhile…made getting hold of them a bugger 😣
Ah, I see. That does affect the value but still good to have copies of them for reference and I'm sure they're still worth a fair bit!
I wish theyd used this artwork for the paperbacks, which are quite unimaginative, especially the first one
still theyre odd for Bond covers, or even spynovels in general. Now I look close I see theres a gun beside the rose, so that makes it kind of spy-ish, but its subtle. I've looked at that picture before and never spotted the gun.
I've theorised before: the painting represents the moment Anya gets the note from her bosses letting her know Bond killed her lover, the note is accompanied by a rose which has been delivered to her. Wood plays up this angle more in the book than was done in the film, its more like the main plot and Stromberg is the b-plot
. . . . .
this paperback is much better than the one I have with the basic photo of Moore. I've never seen this in the wild or i wouldve grabbed it as an upgrade. it even looks something like the PAN film tie-ins. I wonder why Panther went with the dullest possible cover design?
The MR artwork is great too, with the Moonraker shuttle, the Earth, space suited heroine, a porthole, a gun and the deadly orchid. I have to say, of all the Bond hardback covers over the decades, these two have immediately shot up the ladder almost to the very top. Quite amazing.
And I agree @caractacus potts, the Panther film tie in is quite possibly one of the worst OO7 covers ever.
@caractacus potts and @chrisno1 I agree - the hardback covers are gorgeous and ties-in (teehee) with my long standing view that Christopher Wood was the best author of them all that followed Fleming. And the Panther cover is abysmal - I’m sure that Pan would have used something like the Warner cover had they still had the licence.
Some lesser known paperback series covers…whoops, added Dr. Who in error and can’t remove it…
Jack Oleck was primarily a comicbook writer but he did turn his hand to two Amicus movie tie-ins and two paperback books from DC’s House Of Mystery comics series where he adapted the graphic stories into written shorts. These are highly prized nowadays and go for a lot of money.
I know the first Spy Who Loved Me paperback cover is kind of dull but somehow I like it, A lot of the film tie-ins got a bit cluttered. I don't see how the hardback version ties in with the film at all.
Here's one to match @CoolHandBond 's current situation.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
While on a search for volcano pulp fiction to amuse/outrage coolhandbond, the search engine threw up these:
Not sure where we are with kinky Nazi imagery - this does seem to have been a theme in the last 60s and 70s - sort of Nazi exploitation stuff under the veneer of social conscience, like those disclaimers at the beginning of a B-movie purporting to warn folk of unsavoury content, and how it serves as a warning, when it's actually an enticement.
Someone noticed that if a swastika was put on the cover of a thriller, it boosted sales. Not suggesting it was snapped up by incipient Nazis, though to point out the 'appeal' should not be as controversial a comment as it seems; it's like observing that hard drugs are appealing; they would be or some wouldn't be drawn to them in such numbers.
Is it true such kinky prose was ushered in on the back of the Lady Chatterly ruling, or were the covers not aways representative?
Incidentally, the first cover was up on eBay so now rather incriminatingly it shows up on my 'Recently Viewed' even though I wasn't logged on to eBay at the time! I sense I will be caught up in an algorithm's downward spiral.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I didnt know about these House of Mystery prose books CoolHand, thanks for finding those
House of Mystery was a longrunning DC comic book, started as a rather mild horror comic in the early 1950s, became a science fiction comic in the late 50s after horror comics were the victim of moral panic, then a superhero comic in the 60s, finally turning back into a much better horror comic in the late 60s as the Comics Code eased and running for another 15 years. those paperbacks are using the classic logo of the 1970s/80s version of the title. DC's 70s horror comics were known for really good artwork by Berni Wrightson, Wally Wood, Sergio Arogenes, Neal Adams, Michael Kaluta and many others. Jack Oleck was one of the writers
see here for every cover of House of Mystery, the classic logo begins with issue 174
the Amicus films you mention, Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror, are based on the old EC horror comics of the early 1950s, considered to be some of the finest comic books of all time by comics history aficionados. here you can see the covers of every issue of Tales from the Crypt (starts with issue 17) and Vault of Horror, (starts with issue 12). These also were known for great artwork, especially from “ghastly” Graham Ingels and Jack Davis
@Napoleon Plural and @caractacus potts thank you both for your fine contributions.
NP - I’m only familiar with the Angry Mountain cover, the other two are new to me but very good covers. I have covered Nazi artwork before, it was always extremely popular, especially the mens adventure monthly magazines that were prevalent in the 60’s - they would sell like hotcakes and £100 per issue for the more lurid issues would be an average estimation. I actually had several of these removed by eBay when I traded on there for a short while, but I gained several new mail-order customers during the time they were posted and removed.
CP - thanks for your detailed contribution on the comics, and the links that are excellent! I didn’t sell comics in my shop, only magazines, I just didn’t have the space, but I had thousands come my way during those working years, some of which I kept for myself and the rest went to a comicbook dealer where we would share the profits. Comicbook values for key issues have gone insane in recent years and I wish I’d kept them now!
Agatha Christie and Pan Book covers - they don’t come much better than that.
My grandfather had a lot of those. It's where I got my first idea of what Hercule Poirot looked like.
Of course I now just picture David Suchet.
A few more of those lesser known action series…
Gosh, they sound just plain awful and ever so tempting 😁
Going back a few posts, the reason that Spy Who Loved Me tie-in may not have been used so much is because the actual title of Wood's book is 'James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me' presumably to differentiate it from Fleming's title. Just as the follow-up was 'James Bond And Moonraker' and not just 'Moonraker'. However, that particular book cover ignores that. It is a bit messy and cluttered, having to put on the name of Roger Moore and various others too. It joins Live And Let Die as the only film tie-in to go with the straight poster shot though the JB & Moonraker paperback does of course use the poster albeit the teaser trailer of just Moore in tux and space suit.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
My next few posts are going to feature covers from the prolific American publishing house, Signet. And where better to start than the James Bond books which they held the licence for…
To be continued…or James Bond will be back in…
I love how the first LALD cover gives a very ... selective? ... summary of the plot.
I've never seen these two before, its the others with the text in a vertical stripe that I am more familiar with. I think those were contemporary to the mid60s Hawkey PANs, and like them probably printed in huge numbers at the height of Bondmania.
does the fact theres no Moonraker for these earlier covers mean they only used that format for the first two books, before switching to the new cover format?
There is indeed a MR version @caractacus potts my failing brain forgot to add this to the above, so here it is…
And here is DAF (I don’t think Signet had an alternate version of this one, but will be happy to be proved wrong)
And some more…(this may not be the exhaustive Signet output but ones that I can find)
Just to clarify my input into this thread - any facts are taken from various other websites (with grateful thanks) - I usually only post books that I have actually sold in the past - sales prices are those that I achieved unless otherwise noted, and sales trends apply to my shop only, they are not supposed to reflect national or international trends which may well be different.
To be continued…
interesting CoolHand...
that first Dr No appears to be of the same series as the first Casino Royale and Live and Let Die, and the Moonraker you posted is promoting Dr No! so there may have been a Diamonds... and a ...Russia... with that cover layout as well... I'll look round online and see what I can find
the Diamonds are Forever you posted illustrates the same scene of Tiffany in her underwear that was on the early 60sPANs! everybody seems to have thought thats the most interesting scene in the book, its pretty much the only scene that made it into the movie
and the From Russia with Love is a subtle film tie-in! what I notice is it uses the vertical text of the better know signer series, but does not use the serif-y fonts
aha! the 007 Magazine website of course has encyclopedic info on the Signets (and the earlier American paperbacks from other publishers)
here's their info on the first Signet series, those covers with IAN FLEMING in bold non-serif font spread the width of the cover (artwork by Barye Phillips)
007 Magazine said:
Signet Books (the paperback imprint of the New American Library) issued Ian Fleming's novels starting with the first US paperback of FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE in September 1958, followed by DOCTOR NO in June 1959. The company then acquired the rights to the first four James Bond novels, and re-issued LIVE AND LET DIE in October 1959 and CASINO ROYALE (under its original title) in February 1960. The first US paperback edition of GOLDFINGER was published in June 1960, with MOONRAKER added to the range four months later. This also marked the first time Ian Fleming's third novel was published in the USA under its original title. All of the paperbacks had cover artwork painted by Barye Phillips (1924–1969), and the last four covers state that the novel was a James Bond Thriller by the author of DOCTOR NO, as this was the most well-known title in the USA at the time. In June 1961 the FOR YOUR EYES ONLY anthology made its American debut in paperback, also featuring a painted cover by Barye Phillips.
so all the way up to For Your Eyes Only, though that one doesn't actually fit the early format, only the first seven are consistent
the better known series, with serif fonts and the words A JAMES BOND THRILLER in a vertical stripe along one edge, began in 1961
that site has disabled image-linking or I'd paste the remaining covers here