Live and Let Die.

FLEMING, Ian.

Item Number: 2866

London: Jonathan Cape, 1954.

First edition of the second James Bond novel. Octavo, original black cloth with titles to the spine in gilt. Fine in a near fine first issue dust jacket without credit for jacket design and art. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. The first edition consisted of 7,500 copies. A very attractive copy, scarce in this condition.

"Fleming accomplished an extraordinary amount in the history of the thriller. Almost single-handedly, he revived popular interest in the spy novel, spawning legions of imitations, parodies, and critical and fictional reactions Through the immense success of the filmed versions of his books, his character James Bond became the best known fictional personality of his time and Fleming the most famous writer of thrillers since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" (Reilly, 571). The inspiration for these changes came from Fleming's experiences of travel in the U.S. and his knowledge of Jamaica itself, where Live and Let Die was written at Fleming's 'Goldeneye' estate. The novel's innovations were positively noted by The Sunday Times when they wrote "[h]ow wincingly well Mr. Fleming writes." And the Times thought Live and Let Die "is an ingenious affair, full of recondite knowledge and horrific spills and thrills - of slightly sadistic excitements also - though without the simple and bold design of its predecessor."