Casino Royale.

FLEMING, Ian.

Item Number: 3481

London: Jonathan Cape, 1953.

First edition of the first novel in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Edwina who helped in the birth-pangs. From The Author.” With a letter of provenance from the original owner, who was a bilingual secretary to the Foreign Manager of Kemsley Newspapers, who was Ian Fleming.” When Fleming was writing Casino Royale, Smith notes that “this copy was acquired on the first day of its publication.” Fine in a near fine first issue dust jacket with the lightest of rubbing to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.

Casino Royale was written by Ian Fleming in Jamaica over a period of around two months, largely from his own experiences and imagination; he also devised the artwork for the cover. "Within the first few pages Fleming had introduced most of Bond's idiosyncrasies and trademarks," which included his looks, his Bentley and his smoking and drinking habits. The full details of Bond's martini were kept until chapter seven of the book and Bond eventually named it "The Vesper", after Vesper Lynd" (Andrew Lycett). It has been filmed twice as a feature film, the first being the 1967 spoof starring David Niven, and later as the twenty-first official Bond film starring Daniel Craig as James Bond.