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What editions of the Fleming novels do you own?

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  • stagstag In the thick of it!
    edited August 2022 Posts: 1,053
    @007HallY exactly. I can understand why he's referenced. Especially when you apply him, the clothing etc, to the time period in which Bond was introduced.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    edited August 2022 Posts: 9,032
    I don't really care about different editions, as long as they can be read. Basically the same as with the VHS/DVD/BD versions of the movies. It's about the contents, not the packaging: I want them in a reasonable quality (in my case, this means Blu-ray for the films), but I'm not a collector of historical editions. I bought the books as paperbacks because I think hardcovers are wasted money, not just for Fleming's works. Even if I ever read them again (not so sure), they won't fall apart. And once Fleming's copyright expires and they become available online for free, I'll probably discard the physical books in the waste paper bin. Just like I disposed of my VHS videos and a few DVDs that I found I could not sell for a price warranting the hassle.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    I'd like to have a full set of the Folios for the collection / bookshelf, and my full set of the black and white covers for reading / bringing around without too much worry about wear and tear.
  • Bondfan68Bondfan68 Columbus, GA USA
    Posts: 14
    Let's see. It would almost be easier to say which ones I don't have. I've got The Folio Society, Easton Press (my favorite), FEL slip cased, All of the US paperback sets. I have the Cape editions but not all firsts, sadly.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,572
    I bought FRWL on the weekend. 14th print from 1964. Hadn't seen that cover before.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    edited October 2022 Posts: 4,630
    This was from quarterdeck.commanderbond.net.

    I guess since it’s the 70th anniversary of Casino Royale HarperCollins in the states are issuing new reprints of the novels. I’ve seen a new cover for Casino Royale due in March 2023, it’s a bit bland to be honest. But when I looked at a pacific NW bookstore they have a similar cover for Moonraker that releases in June.
    Can anyone confirm? Why was there no press release?

    https://www.elliottbaybook.com/item/Vus7kAU5V3WDkdof0TcpPg

    I think this confirms more than one rerelease of Fleming titles.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,109
    james-bond-007-collection-14-book-box-set-original-imadf2g6ccjpchyg.jpeg?q=70
    Other than some novels on Kindle this box-set is all I have now.

    Many years ago I had a very impressive collection of Bond books though threw them all away, which I constantly regret.
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    edited October 2022 Posts: 7,419
    Fire_and_Ice_Returns wrote: »
    james-bond-007-collection-14-book-box-set-original-imadf2g6ccjpchyg.jpeg?q=70
    Other than some novels on Kindle this box-set is all I have now.

    Many years ago I had a very impressive collection of Bond books though threw them all away, which I constantly regret.

    Thats the set I have! Did have the novels individually, but like yourself, discarded them. Am happy with this set, and doubt i will buy them again in another form!
  • HoagyCarmichaelHoagyCarmichael
    edited November 2022 Posts: 26
    Most of my Fleming editions are the 70s Still Life Pan series apart from LALD which is the Triad Granada, CS which is a 1st edition Jonathan Cape and 007 in New York (Times edition 2008).
    20221114-233249.jpg
    I've placed Octopussy after Thunderball because it roughly fits the chronological order of the universe (i.e. Thunderball is 1959, Octo is most likely 1960/61, LD is 1960, PoaL is 1961, SWLM & OHMSS 1961)
  • ColonelAdamskiColonelAdamski UK
    Posts: 1,078
    I need to get the still-life series. Thunderball and Goldfinger as still-life paperbacks were the first Bond books I bought, back in the late 70's.
    My last purchase was a Folio Spy. . .

    IMG-9121.jpg

    FYEO coming Xmas!
  • HoagyCarmichaelHoagyCarmichael
    Posts: 26
    ColonelAdamski wrote: »
    I need to get the still-life series. Thunderball and Goldfinger as still-life paperbacks were the first Bond books I bought, back in the late 70's.
    My last purchase was a Folio Spy.

    They are proper lush looking those Folio editions. One of these days I'll treat myself!

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,271
    HoagyCarmichael wrote: »
    Most of my Fleming editions are the 70s Still Life Pan series apart from LALD which is the Triad Granada, CS which is a 1st edition Jonathan Cape and 007 in New York (Times edition 2008).
    20221114-233249.jpg
    I've placed Octopussy after Thunderball because it roughly fits the chronological order of the universe (i.e. Thunderball is 1959, Octo is most likely 1960/61, LD is 1960, PoaL is 1961, SWLM & OHMSS 1961)

    That's a very impressive collection of all of the 1970s Pan Still Life covers, @HoagyCarmichael! They're getting very hard to find in the wild though I've found a few over the last 27 years since I started collecting the Bond novels. As I'm sure you know they didn't do a Still Life cover for LALD as the film tie-in version was out at the same time (1973). That looks like a lovely well protected dust jacket on Colonel Sun too. I have a first edition of that one too, but it doesn't have as nice a dust jacket as that one does. Do you own any of the other Bond continuation novels besides Colonel Sun?
  • HoagyCarmichaelHoagyCarmichael
    Posts: 26
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    ..
    Do you own any of the other Bond continuation novels besides Colonel Sun?
    Hi @Dragonpol yea I own a few but not all of the continuations see the pic below, I might try getting my hands on the first two Horowitz novels soon:
    20221116-162146.jpg

  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    ColonelAdamski wrote: »
    I need to get the still-life series. Thunderball and Goldfinger as still-life paperbacks were the first Bond books I bought, back in the late 70's.
    My last purchase was a Folio Spy. . .

    IMG-9121.jpg

    FYEO coming Xmas!

    Beautiful set of Folios my friend.
  • ColonelAdamskiColonelAdamski UK
    Posts: 1,078
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    Beautiful set of Folios my friend.

    It's not a bad collection I bought Casino Royale about three years ago and thought 'I'll just buy one for a special treat'.

  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,630
    Here are some of the new editions that look like they’re coming out next year.

    https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/casino-royale-ian-fleming/1142549278?ean=9780063298521#

    https://www.elliottbaybook.com/item/Vus7kAU5V3WDkdof0TcpPg
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,032
    I must say I treat my books much as I treat my movies: I don't care what edition they are, as long as I have the optimal experience available. And this is why I discarded my Bond VHS tapes when DVD came about, and the latter when I switched to Blu-ray. Same for the books.

    I don't collect vintage books for being vintage books. I want to read the contents. Which is why I have not been buying hardcover books (not just Bond) for decades unless, for some strange reasons, they were cheaper than paperbacks.

    I'm not saying I will even be re-reading my Bond books, but my mixed collection of the Fleming novel paperbacks will withstand a second or maybe third reading at some time. And should a page loosen itself from the binding, I'll just tape it to the remainder.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    I must say I treat my books much as I treat my movies: I don't care what edition they are, as long as I have the optimal experience available. And this is why I discarded my Bond VHS tapes when DVD came about, and the latter when I switched to Blu-ray. Same for the books.

    I don't collect vintage books for being vintage books. I want to read the contents. Which is why I have not been buying hardcover books (not just Bond) for decades unless, for some strange reasons, they were cheaper than paperbacks.

    I'm not saying I will even be re-reading my Bond books, but my mixed collection of the Fleming novel paperbacks will withstand a second or maybe third reading at some time. And should a page loosen itself from the binding, I'll just tape it to the remainder.

    I think my take on it is fairly similar, but I have to admit I do have some Bond media for the aesthetics. I have a full set of B&W cover paperbacks which are my "working" copies, that I actually read, but I am collecting a full set of Folios to have as well. Similarly with the films, I have a full set of blurays in a CD sleeve book, but I also have several films in Steelbooks for the aesthetics (and I would love to have a full set of these one day too, but they're slippery buggers with regards to when and how they're released).
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    edited November 2022 Posts: 9,032
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    [I have a full set of blurays in a CD sleeve book, but I also have several films in Steelbooks for the aesthetics (and I would love to have a full set of these one day too, but they're slippery buggers with regards to when and how they're released).
    I suppose we're talking about the same "sleeve book", i.e. the James Bond 50 years collection (at least that's mine, it came with an empty slot for SKYFALL). And I bought the following Blu-rays separately, including SF. But just like with every other Blu-ray, I don't care if the disk is in a plastic or a tin box, as long as it is complete, since 99.9 percent of the time it stands upright in my shelf.

    Over here, a lot of DVD/BD fans have been complaining that ten or twelve years ago the law was changed to show the minimum-age requirement in quite some size on the cover upon sale. Some companies reacted by introducing a reversible sleeve - once you bought it, you could turn it inside out so your DVD/BD case no longer showed that rating box. I admit I flip the cover when available, but I would never spend a single penny just to remove the age rating. It's just outer appearance, and I only see the spine of the box anyway, as mentioned above.

    By the way, I have a "steelbook" of JAWS which I bought because it was cheap at the time but don't need any more because it is in my Spielberg collection box, which I bought afterwards. I failed to find a rebuy service that would even pay a euro for it. So I'm likely to get rid of it somehow. But it fits in with my personal perception that (except for collectors' completism) package means nothing, contents is all.

    Just to get back to the thread subject: The same applies to books. As long as I can read their contents, forget everything else. It's not worth worrying about it. Four years ago, my wife and I dumped about five hundred books from our household (not my Fleming paperbacks!). But while the thought of the Nazis burning books about 90 years ago had kept us holding books sacred (a pretty typical feeling of the post-war German generation), we now decided that none of the contents would get lost by discarding our personal copies. Today, there is no need to keep physical books to preserve them, since all the public-domain stuff is available to download for free, or for a pittance if you want it for your Kindle app.

    That being said, it is up to everybody whether they want to collect things, say everything connected to Bond. I also collect some superfluous stuff in other sectors. Just saying I want access to the text of the novels and a decent-looking and -sounding version of the movies. The rest doesn't matter to me.

  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    100%, and it does sound like you're quite a bit more pragmatic than I am (and I think I'd probably save a few bucks here and there if I was a little less concerned with aesthetics of things!). Question for you though, are the Fay Dalton illustrations of any worth to you, in the Bond novels? I feel they kind of straddle the line between "pointless aesthetics" and "worthwhile Bond content".
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,032
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    100%, and it does sound like you're quite a bit more pragmatic than I am (and I think I'd probably save a few bucks here and there if I was a little less concerned with aesthetics of things!). Question for you though, are the Fay Dalton illustrations of any worth to you, in the Bond novels? I feel they kind of straddle the line between "pointless aesthetics" and "worthwhile Bond content".

    I'm afraid I'm not really aware of any illustrations, and I generally don't think that illustrations add anything to a novel (not just the Fleming stuff). So I guess I'm more on the "pointless aesthetics" side of things.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    Fair enough; I think they’re a big part of why people are collecting the Folio Society editions.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,032
    Yes, and that's why I'm not even aware of the Folio Society editions. Until now I thought it was just the title of a thread on this discussion board. Anyway, count me out.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    Fair enough!
  • ColonelAdamskiColonelAdamski UK
    Posts: 1,078
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    Fair enough; I think they’re a big part of why people are collecting the Folio Society editions.

    The illustrations in the Folio editions are a bonus to me, and not an especially big part of the reason why I've been buying them. The books are such high quality in their bindings, typeset, and general tactileness (is that a word?), that they're the best hardbacks on Fleming I've seen since the original 1st editions, (of which I have only the last three).
    And very importantly, they all keep to the original UK text. Something we may not see again in Fleming hardback reprints, given the current era of over-sensitivity.
    That said, Faye Dalton does knock it out the ball park with her illustrations. She captures the Fleming vibe.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    ColonelAdamski wrote: »
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    Fair enough; I think they’re a big part of why people are collecting the Folio Society editions.

    The illustrations in the Folio editions are a bonus to me, and not an especially big part of the reason why I've been buying them. The books are such high quality in their bindings, typeset, and general tactileness (is that a word?), that they're the best hardbacks on Fleming I've seen since the original 1st editions, (of which I have only the last three).
    And very importantly, they all keep to the original UK text. Something we may not see again in Fleming hardback reprints, given the current era of over-sensitivity.
    That said, Faye Dalton does knock it out the ball park with her illustrations. She captures the Fleming vibe.

    Fair enough; there is lots to love with these editions.
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    edited March 2023 Posts: 12,467
    Proud to say I’ve bitten the bullet and begun a (probably long, due to the high pricing) hunt for all the Folio editions. The artwork is top-notch, they look very sturdy, and most importantly, the faithfulness to original text makes me happy. Currently I own one set of paperbacks, and for now just Casino Royale from Folio whenever it ends up in my mailbox. Any and all spare money will be going to this cause! Looks like a high quality set to cherish, especially with the new censorship editions coming up.
  • BirdlesonBirdleson
    Posts: 2,161
    @FoxRox , My one criticism has been that they are not as sturdy as they appear. The slipcase is rather thin and weak (which has not been the norm when I have purchased high end books in slipcase form in the past). I enjoyed the look and feel of the actual book, and the artwork, enough to continue on collecting the series, but that initial disappointment does linger.
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,467
    @Birdleson I appreciate the heads up; tempering expectations is a good thing! For their priciness I did go with just CR for now, and in case I ended up not being as into it as I thought I might. As a longtime fan, do you feel this is still one of the better editions released?
  • BirdlesonBirdleson
    Posts: 2,161
    Yes, it's very good. @Some_Kind_Of_Hero has a great set of hardcover first edition reproductions that I'd love to get.
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