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The Bond Affair, Oreste Del Buono & Umberto Eco, 1965

EmilioEmilio Palmyra, Nassau
in Literary 007 Posts: 175
Browsing the net, today I came across The Bond Affair cover image (check here below link).
Published in 1965, this essay is written by Oreste Del Buono (Italian writer, journalist and literary critic) and Umberto Eco (Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist) author of The Name of the Rose among others.
I couldn't get any further information on the book, and no copies are apparently available anywhere…

Anyone knows anything about it?

http://33.media.tumblr.com/c376e72e5bc9e50ee3fb7f8d70756f76/tumblr_nc4ltbJKVX1rrq6yfo1_500.jpg

Comments

  • 00130013
    Posts: 1,817
    I have it in Spanish. Interesting book, mostly focused on Fleming's books. Eco's essay was reprinted latter in one of his books, ll superuomo di massa.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    My mother came across it in our library in the early 90's and brought it home. I was staggered as it is very rare. Suffice it to say I told the library I had lost it and grudgingly coughed up the £1.50 fine! Now one of the more valuable pieces in my Bond collection.

    It has some very interesting discussions and is well worth a read. The level of debate is at a level one can only dream of on here. Havent read it for years but it felt dated even then given it mostly covers the books and only goes up to GF for the films. Well worth a look if you can get hold of a copy though.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited September 2014 Posts: 18,281
    I bought myself a copy of this rare Bondian tome - it cost me over £50 on Amazon so it's more one for collectors but as @TheWizardOfIce says above it's well worth the entry fee for the serious literary James Bond fan. Sadly it did not have its dust jacket though it is a first edition.

    And yes, as The Wiz says, good debate here on the literary Bond is certainly not what it was when I joined in December 2012 which is why I rarely post here now sadly.
  • EmilioEmilio Palmyra, Nassau
    Posts: 175
    I have to find a copy!
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,541
    It is a great sixties book around the literary Bond phenomenon. Here you have it in Spanish: http://www.archivo007.com/index.php/otros-medios/biblioteca-bond/category/9-estudios-de-umberto-eco
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Emilio wrote: »
    I have to find a copy!

    It should be available from Amazon - that's where I got mine. :)
  • EmilioEmilio Palmyra, Nassau
    Posts: 175
    Thank you all, more than happy to buy it in Spanish or English but being Italian I would love to have the original writing. I spent the day to check different bookstores yeaterday but not even the possibility to order it.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    You'll only find it in very specialist bookshops and maybe e-bay. Expect to pay a fair bit though.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    It's now going for £120 on Amazon UK. I bought the first edition of this book from there (minus the dust jacket) for about £50 in 2012.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Bond-affair-Oreste-Buono/dp/B0000CN8FD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411381869&sr=8-1&keywords=the+bond+affair
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    So from £1.50 in the early 90s to £120 now? I call that a pretty sound investment over 20 years. Property in Central London doesn't appreciate at that rate.
  • RevelatorRevelator
    Posts: 2,918
    If you're near a university library you can probably find it there (I did). The book is mostly worthwhile for Umberto Eco's main essay, and that's been reprinted elsewhere on multiple occasions. So not an essential purchase. The translation also feels hurried and slightly wonky.
  • EmilioEmilio Palmyra, Nassau
    Posts: 175
    Thank you all, I am thinking to call the Italian publisher and have 50 copies printed as a present to all my friends for my forthcoming 50° anniversary….already checked libraries with no results, it seams the original Italian print is lost in time….
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,541
    Emilio wrote: »
    Thank you all, I am thinking to call the Italian publisher and have 50 copies printed as a present to all my friends for my forthcoming 50° anniversary….already checked libraries with no results, it seams the original Italian print is lost in time….

    :-O
    NOW, I want to be your Friend!!
    Congratulations... to them!! ^:)^
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »
    So from £1.50 in the early 90s to £120 now? I call that a pretty sound investment over 20 years. Property in Central London doesn't appreciate at that rate.

    And the Limitation Act on your theft of the library book has run out Wiz so you're quids in! :))
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited September 2014 Posts: 9,117
    Not sure you could prove theft Sir.

    I mislaid the book (albeit on my Bond bookshelf - which I grant looks bad but was wholly accidental), admitted this loss to the library and paid the appropriate fine so as far as they're concerned the matter is settled.

    It's hardly my fault they set their fines at a fraction of the book's cost and given I was the first person to take it out in about 6 years I doubt anyone missed it, although to any Bond fans in Stafford who trawled the library looking for this tome in the past 20 years you have my apologies. But it was a complete accident (I must emphasise that point) and I was as surprised as anyone to find it on my Bond bookshelf years later.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »
    Not sure you could prove theft Sir.

    I mislaid the book (albeit on my Bond bookshelf - which I grant looks bad but was wholly accidental), admitted this loss to the library and paid the appropriate fine so as far as they're concerned the matter is settled.

    It's hardly my fault they set their fines at a fraction of the book's cost and given I was the first person to take it out in about 6 years I doubt anyone missed it, although to any Bond fans in Stafford who trawled the library looking for this tome in the past 20 years you have my apologies. But it was a complete accident (I must emphasise that point) and I was as surprised as anyone to find it on my Bond bookshelf years later.

    I'm only pulling your leg, Wiz. At least the book got a worthy home and was appreciated by your good self rather than languishing on a library shelf merely gathering a film of dust!
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »
    Not sure you could prove theft Sir.

    I mislaid the book (albeit on my Bond bookshelf - which I grant looks bad but was wholly accidental), admitted this loss to the library and paid the appropriate fine so as far as they're concerned the matter is settled.

    It's hardly my fault they set their fines at a fraction of the book's cost and given I was the first person to take it out in about 6 years I doubt anyone missed it, although to any Bond fans in Stafford who trawled the library looking for this tome in the past 20 years you have my apologies. But it was a complete accident (I must emphasise that point) and I was as surprised as anyone to find it on my Bond bookshelf years later.

    I'm only pulling your leg, Wiz. At least the book got a worthy home and was appreciated by your good self rather than languishing on a library shelf merely gathering a film of dust!

    Just playing it safe -when Yewtree run out of 70's celebs to persecute they might start coming after the library transgressors.

    And in today's Britain all it takes is one person to complain to the police that they wanted to take that book out and I'm going down.

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited September 2014 Posts: 18,281
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »
    Not sure you could prove theft Sir.

    I mislaid the book (albeit on my Bond bookshelf - which I grant looks bad but was wholly accidental), admitted this loss to the library and paid the appropriate fine so as far as they're concerned the matter is settled.

    It's hardly my fault they set their fines at a fraction of the book's cost and given I was the first person to take it out in about 6 years I doubt anyone missed it, although to any Bond fans in Stafford who trawled the library looking for this tome in the past 20 years you have my apologies. But it was a complete accident (I must emphasise that point) and I was as surprised as anyone to find it on my Bond bookshelf years later.

    I'm only pulling your leg, Wiz. At least the book got a worthy home and was appreciated by your good self rather than languishing on a library shelf merely gathering a film of dust!

    Just playing it safe -when Yewtree run out of 70's celebs to persecute they might start coming after the library transgressors.

    And in today's Britain all it takes is one person to complain to the police that they wanted to take that book out and I'm going down.

    Satire, but sadly it's all too true, Wiz. :))
  • EmilioEmilio Palmyra, Nassau
    edited February 2015 Posts: 175
    finally found it, original Italian first edition ^:)^ B-) =D>
  • EmilioEmilio Palmyra, Nassau
    Posts: 175
    http://casaforte.blogspot.it/2015/02/catch-of-week.html
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Congratulations, @Emilio! As I said above I have the English translation and that cost me about £50 on Amazon in 2012.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Revelator wrote: »
    If you're near a university library you can probably find it there (I did). The book is mostly worthwhile for Umberto Eco's main essay, and that's been reprinted elsewhere on multiple occasions. So not an essential purchase. The translation also feels hurried and slightly wonky.

    Yes, that essay was on our curriculum when I studied media science at the university, so I too have had the pleasure of reading it.
  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    Is the essay available online? Or ws that link supposed to link to it?
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    I've been inspired by this thread to start reading this excellent little book - highly recommended! :)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    007InVT wrote: »
    Is the essay available online? Or ws that link supposed to link to it?

    No, I think that link is just to @Emilio's site - he found the original Italian edition of this book - Il Caso Bond.
  • EmilioEmilio Palmyra, Nassau
    Posts: 175
    Dragonpol wrote:
    No, I think that link is just to @Emilio's site - he found the original Italian edition of this book - Il Caso Bond.

    precisely B-)
  • jw5000jw5000 Philippines
    edited June 2021 Posts: 1
    Not sure if anyone is still interested in finding a copy of this book, but I have a copy of it in our bookshelf at home.

    I am currently in the process of cataloguing our old books so I can sell them to help my sister fund her graduate studies abroad. Most of the books are useless DIY manuals from the 50s or 60s, Cold War spy thrillers, but one of the books is a hardbound copy of The Bond Affair with a dirty dust jacket. I came across this thread by searching for the book on Google. I search for every book on our shelf to verify if I have the genre correct. Anyway, I'm surprised by how ridiculously valuable this book is (I confess I'm not really a Bond fan myself).

    If you're willing to buy it, I am also uncertain how we could go about the transaction. I live in the Philippines so the best I can do to prove the book's authenticity is to send photos, videos, etc. I am also not sure about shipping since our postal service is notoriously unreliable, so it might have to be done via more reliable services (DHL, FedEx). If anyone is interested, maybe we can work something out. Let me know.
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