Ian Fleming: Book Collector

Everyone knows about Bond but few are aware of Fleming’s passion for collecting books. In 1952, the same year he wrote Casino Royale, he launched The Book Collector. By then he was well into his collection of first editions of the crucial books of modern civilisation (on TV, atomic fission, X-Rays, birth control, Boy Scouts, the motor car and penicillin among other things). As an idea it was unique. When he died in 1964 the library was bought by the Lilly Library, University of Indiana.

Now in the care of Ian Fleming’s nephews, James and Fergus Fleming (themselves writers), the bibliophile publication is still very much alive and to celebrate the 65th anniversary of its birth it is devoting an issue to Ian Fleming. On 10 March 2017, The Book Collector will release the Special Edition, paying homage to its founder, and showcasing for the first time material originating from unseen family papers. Numbering 288 pages, and featuring 40 photographs, it will be a unique publication in the vast history of the Bond phenomenon, featuring, among many others, articles under the following titles:

“James Bond Invades America”

“Collecting Ian Fleming”

“You Only Live Twice, the dust-wrapper”

“Two Bond Collectors”

“The Bond Market: an 007 Price Index”

For further information on the contents of this Special Edition, and for details of how to purchase a copy, please click the following link: www.thebookcollector.co.uk/preview-ian-fleming-special-issue

There will also be a Limited Edition entitled Ian Fleming: The Book Collector limited to 150 specially bound copies selling at £150 each, including postage. For dedicated collectors there’ll be a further edition of 26 copies numbered A-Z selling at £275 each. These will come with a reprinted copy of the flyer Fleming wrote specially for The Book Collector, virtually unseen since it was issued in 1957. James and Fergus Fleming, will be signing copies of both these editions. Very appropriately, these editions will be published by the Queen Anne Press, which was once run by Ian Fleming and now belongs to his family. Details will be posted in due course on both www.thebookcollector.co.uk and www.queenannepress.co.uk