Ian Fleming "James Bond" Easton Press (FEL) First Edition Library, 14 Volume Complete Set

"Bond...James Bond"

Bond is a cool, handsome, dangerous agent for British Intelligence his code number, 007

EASTON PRESS - The First Edition Library - The Complete James Bond by Ian Fleming in a 14 volume matching collection. These extraordinary books are worth having just for the covers alone. (see photos below). These set of books also include the original publisher issued pamphlet, still sealed in the original plastic sleeve. An excellent opportunity to own a piece of literary history. James Bond is one of the most famous secret agents in modern fiction.

Each book is identical to the First Edition, including...

• the first critics' comments printed on the jacket flap
• the design of every volume is unique to its own era
• the original artwork on the dust jacket
• hardcover bindings
• the typefaces
• the endpapers
• the title pages
• and even the minor errors that collectors look for.

Foil the world's smartest diamond smugglers in Diamonds Are Forever, face flaming guns and gorgeous women in The Spy Who Loved Me. Discover all the stories that have been immortalized in films such as Goldfinger, From Russia with Love, You Only Live Twice, Dr. No, Live and Let Die, and many more!

Complete 14 book set in one shipment:

1. Casino Royale [Sealed/Very Fine]

2. Doctor No [Sealed/Very Fine]

3. Diamonds Are Forever [Sealed/Very Fine]

4. For Your Eyes Only [Sealed/Very Fine]

5. From Russia With Love [Sealed/Very Fine]

6. Goldfinger [Sealed/Very Fine]

7. Live and Let Die [Sealed/Very Fine]

8. The Man With The Golden Gun [Sealed/Very Fine]

9. Moonraker [Sealed/Very Fine]

10. Octopussy and The Living Daylights [Sealed/Very Fine]

11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service [Sealed/Very Fine]

12. The Spy Who Loved Me [Sealed/Very Fine]

13. Thunderball [Sealed/Very Fine]

14. You Only Live Twice [Sealed/Very Fine]

Photos of actual set

Ian Fleming

Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.

While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units: 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. He drew from his wartime service and his career as a journalist for much of the background, detail, and depth of his James Bond novels.

Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952, at age 44. It was a success, and three print runs were commissioned to meet the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short stories followed between 1953 and 1966. The novels centre around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond is also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (1964) and two works of non-fiction. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

Fleming was married to Anne Charteris. She had divorced her husband, the 2nd Viscount Rothermere, because of her affair with the author. Fleming and Charteris had a son, Caspar. Fleming was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life and succumbed to heart disease in 1964 at the age of 56. Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously; other writers have since produced Bond novels. Fleming's creation has appeared in film twenty-seven times, portrayed by six actors in the official film series.

James Bond

James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the second longest running and second most successful film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr. No. There have been 21 films in the EON Productions series to date, with the 22nd, Quantum of Solace, due for release in November 2008). In addition there have been two independent feature productions (a 1967 spoof version of Casino Royale starring David Niven in the title role, and 1983's Never Say Never Again) and one Fleming-licensed American television adaptation of the first novel, aired in 1954. In 1956, Moonraker was also adapted into a South African radio play starring Bob HolnessYou Only Live Twice was adapted into a 90 minute radio play for BBC Radio 4 with Michael Jayston playing James Bond. (although the UK release date has been moved forward to 31st October as Bond. In 1990,

After Fleming's death in 1964, subsequent James Bond novels were written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham), John Pearson, John Gardner and Raymond Benson. In addition Charlie Higson has begun to write a series of books detailing the "Young James Bond". Moreover, Christopher Wood novelized two screenplays, while other writers have authored unofficial versions of the character.

In July 2007, it was announced that Sebastian Faulks has been commissioned to write a new Bond novel to commemorate Fleming's 100th Birthday. The book - titled Devil May Care - was published on 27 May 2008 with an imposing launch involving the Royal Navy's HMS Exeter and a military speedboat racing up the Thames.

In 2008, BBC Radio 4 was granted the rights for a one-shot broadcast of a radio adaptation of another 007 novel: Dr. No, with Toby Stephens (who portrayed the villain Die Another Day) as James Bond. The EON Productions films are generally termed as "official" films originating with the purchase of the James Bond film rights by producer Harry Saltzman in the late 1950s.

Apart from movies, TV and radio, Bond has also been adapted for many other media, including comic strips and video games.

FACTS

Known as "007," the British secret agent had a license to kill (connoted in the double-0 prefix)

Protagonist of series of books written by Ian Fleming; after Fleming's death in 1964, others picked up the mantle and continued the series

In the movies, was portrayed by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig

Enjoys vodka martinis shaken, not stirred

Casino Royale was first Bond novel

Fleming owned an estate in Jamaica called GoldenEye, the name of another of his novels

In 1954 American TV production of Casino Royale, "Jimmy Bond" was played by Barry Nelson (making him the first actor to play Bond!)

First Bond film was Dr. No, made by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman (1962)

Bond's family motto: Orbis non sufficit (Latin for "The world is not enough")

In the novel, You Only Live Twice, Bond marries Kissy Suzuki and she has his child, though Bond doesn't know about him until much later (in the short story "Blast From the Past"); no child is ever mentioned in Bond films

Fleming took Bond's name from an ornithologist he admired; James Bond wrote Birds of the West Indies

The First Edition Library (FEL)

The First Edition Library (FEL) produced 112 titles, with the heart of the series being literary fiction from the 19th and 20th centuries. Many of these books are now out of print.

FEL's Focus: The FEL primarily focused on literary fiction, but also included exceptions such as the James Bond series, mystery series, science fiction series, and a "Published in Paris" series.

First Edition Identification: Original FEL books have an explanatory text on the facsimile copyright page and the "FEL" colophon on the back jacket flap. However, the first three titles did not have the "FEL" colophon on the back jacket flap on all first printings.

In the late 1980s the First Edition Library (FEL) began publishing high quality facsimiles of famous first editions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Sold via subscription, the FEL eventually produced over one hundred titles, ranging from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead.

The degree of accuracy maintained in the duplication of original first editions was nothing less than extraordinary. FEL facsimiles had the same weight, size, typeface, art, dust jacket, finish and texture as the originals. Even mistakes were duplicated - for example, the infamous "jay" error on the front flap of The Great Gatsby dust jacket possesses the same capital 'J' that strikes over the lower case letter as the original. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Original Gatsby dust jackets surface about once in a blue moon, usually in less than perfect condition, and values are astronomical.)

There are, however, some distinguishing differences in FEL productions. Acid free paper was used, whether it was in the original or not - and often it was not. Also, an explanatory block of text appears on the facsimile copyright page.

The dust jacket possesses an "FEL" on the lower part of the back jacket flap.

Sometime in the 1990s, FEL ceased production and sold rights for some of its facsimiles to Easton Press. Easton, in turn, produced 35 literary and 14 James Bond titles, also selling them via subscription. These are identical to those produced by the original First Edition Library publishers with one exception: There's no information card. Online sellers of FEL titles in their original shrink wrap frequently make the assumption that the book includes its information card. Not likely; most of these copies are the newer (and less valuable) Eastons.

In the past two or three years, Easton has made several other changes. First, they have discontinued FEL production of the James Bond series, and values now reflect this. Second, slip cases were discontinued. Regarding Easton copies of FEL titles, it should be noted that the explanatory block on the title page has not been altered - that is, there is no mention of Easton Press involvement.

The first three FEL titles produced - For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Great Gatsby, and Of Mice and Men - possess an interesting variation that subsequent publications don't: "FEL" was missing from on the back jacket flap on all first printings (2500 copies of each title). Understandably, book collectors expressed concern that this opened the door to fraudulent misrepresentation of the jackets, especially given the faithfulness of the reproductions. Consequently, starting with the fourth book, Look Homeward Angel, "FEL" was added to the back flap. Also, after the initial runs of the first three titles were exhausted, "FEL" was added to all future printings. Today, as you might imagine, copies without "FEL" are hard to find and much sought after.

In total, the First Edition Library produced 112 titles. Easton purchased the rights to produce 49 of them. The remaining 63 ceased production in the 1990s, and, as a result, this out-of-print status tends to increase their value.

The heart of the First Edition Library series is literary fiction, but there are four categories of exceptions.

1. James Bond series: 14 titles.
2. Mystery series: 13 titles.
3. Science fiction series: 12 titles.
4. Published in Paris (banned books) series: 3 titles.

The Published in Paris series (Lolita, Tropic of Cancer, and Ulysses) is relatively scarce and not as easily spotted because the titles were issued in clamshell boxes instead of slip cases. Also, none of the three books possess information cards; rather, there is a single informational brochure referring to all three.

The mystery series was done in collaboration with Otto Penzler, noted mystery publisher and proprietor of the Mystery Book Shop in New York City, who also published the titles, but again, no slipcases. Note also that a few titles in this series do not state "First Edition Library" on the copyright page. Instead look for "Collectors Reprints." This is further complicated by the fact that some Penzler productions possess the FEL information card and yet lack slip cases. Confused yet? It gets worse. As noted, some FEL books state "Collectors Reprints" rather than "First Edition Library," but not all Collectors Reprints books are FEL books.

Reference: https://www.bookthink.com/0068/68fel.htm