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Ian Fleming | First Editions
1908 - 1964
See below for our world-leading stock of Ian Fleming first editions, signed first editions, fine bindings, sets, association copies, letters, and other collectible material relating to Fleming and his famous creation, James Bond.
Ian Lancaster Fleming was born in Mayfair, London on 28th May 1908, the second of four brothers. He was schooled at Eton College and continued his education in Europe, studying languages in Kitzbuhel, Munich and Geneva. In the 1930's Fleming worked as both a merchant banker and a stockbroker, but it was at journalism (initially reporting for Reuters, then freelance) that he excelled. During World War II, with the rank of Commander, he worked as assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence at the Admiralty in London, privy to many secrets. It was his experience in this role and his earlier escapades in Russia that were to inspire many of the plots and characters that would appear within his later novels. After the war Fleming dabbled in travel journalism and began writing instructional articles for his network of 'Mercury [news] Service' agents. In the late '40s he bought a property in Jamaica, where in early 1952 he settled down to write a novel. Casino Royale, the first James Bond adventure, was produced in just two months. The same successful routine was followed every year for the rest of his life, leading to a total of fourteen Bond books.
Ian Fleming
Queen Anne Press
Ian Fleming the Bibliography by Jon Gilbert
The Lilly Library
James Bond First Editions
The Ian Fleming Foundation
'Thunderball' (A James Bond Spy Thriller) contained within 'Argosy' magazine for men. Volume 353, Number 6, December 1961.
Ohio and New York: Popular Publications, Incorporated. December 1961. [Men's Magazine] FIRST US PERIODICAL APPEARANCE. Magazine format (28 x 22cm), pp.144. In pictorial paper wraps. Original price: 50 cents. The novel 'Thunderball' is advertised on the front cover as an 'extra book bonus' and appears on pages 128–44, with a...... More
The Ian Fleming Celebrity Golf Classic.
Designed and Produced for the Ian Fleming Foundation by The James Bond 007 International Fan Club & Archive, no date [2000]. [Ian Fleming Foundation] EVENT PROGRAMME. Octavo pamphlet (24 x 16cm), pp.[12] Illustrated in colour and black and white, with glossy soft covers, stapled twice. A fine, as-new copy. A...... More
The Spy's Bedside Book. An Anthology edited by Graham Greene and Hugh Greene.
London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1957. [Spy Anthology] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[2] 256 [2]. With occasional in-text illustrations. With the original dust-jacket front cover and flap bound in at rear. Recently bound in black half calf, with raised bands, gilt titles to twin red labels on spine, and matching..... More
Best Secret Service Stories.
London: Faber and Faber, 1964. [anthology of spy stories] Large format paperback. First softcover edition. Octavo (20 x 13cm), pp.256. Publisher's card covers with typograpic design in yellow and black. Minor handling, reading crease; very good. Contains an excerpt from Ian Fleming's James Bond novel 'Live and Let Die'. Fleming..... More