THIS WEB PAGE is not a guide to the Bond movies or an in-depth look at the novels, but it does contain some of my favorite cover artwork from the various editions of the James Bond books. The site is divided into the sections you see above.
MOST OF THE covers I have included here are from UK paperback editions, concentrating on the Pan paperbacks printed in the 1960s, roughly when Sean Connery was making his Bond movies. I found most of my collection in various second-hand bookshops back in 1989 and 1990, some for as little as 50 pence each. I have a lot of affection for them as they are largely responsible for giving me the Bond-bug.
AS A RULE of thumb the Pan books lasted into the mid-1970s and were followed by Panther/Granada editions with the infamous "girls on giant guns" covers. The late 1980s saw some very low-key Coronet editions that got a more collorful makeover in 1995. Now Penguin have re-launched the books with new covers in 2002. I've included some movie covers and the later novels by other authors.
This link will point you to another site with paperback covers not featured here: www.artofjamesbond.com/
since 28 May 2008
I finished Devil may Care at the weekend. Not bad at all. Here and there I could almost pretend that it was a Fleming book.
Today I've added a page on the Penguin 2008 hardback editions. These are really nice editions and you should check them out. I've bought six so far.
Just in case you didn't know (!) today sees publication of the new James Bond novel Devil may Care. As planned I bought it half-price in Waterstones and picked up a 5 postcard set of art from the new Penguin hardcovers of the Fleming books.
By the way, those new hardcovers are very nice. I think I'll be buying a few. Here's the covers for From Russia, With Love and Goldfinger:
Waterstones book shops will be selling Devil May Care at half-price when it comes out, plus they will be giving away some kind of postcards.
Yesterday evening I made a nice find in Tescos. A box set of the 14 Fleming Penguin Bond books for £15.00.
The Times newspaper is giving away a copy of Octopussy next Saturday. This will be followed by a givaway of the first five Bond books (Casino Royale to From Russia, With Love) with the paper in WH Smith the following week.
Amazon UK are listing two new books called Quantum of Solace containing all the Fleming short stories. The first appears to be a UK edition and is due out on 29 May.
The second looks like a US edition and is out on 26 August.
BBC Radio 4 have a number of special programs to mark the Fleming centernery. Full details can be found at this BBC Press Release.
"On Saturday 24 May, Toby Stephens and David Suchet star in the first ever full radio adaptation of Dr No, Ian Fleming's 1958 James Bond novel."
Here is a summary of the programs:
Yesterday the title of the next James Bond was announced as Quantum of Solace. That title comes from one of the five stories in For Your Eyes Only, but as it is not a traditional Bond adventure it will be interesting to see how it fits into the story.
It will be interesting to see if the publishers reprint For Your Eyes Only with a movie cover, or opt for a novelisation.
Have a look at Michael Gillette's blog at pencilsqueezing.blogspot.com where there are images of the new Bond hardback covers for 2008.
The Royal Mail's James Bond stamps went on sale yesterday. I picked up a presentation pack and I must say it's very nice.
What's interesting is that the artist responsable for the Pan covers from the 1960s - my favourite covers - remains unknown:
But at this point the design trail goes cold: despite significant investigation, the artist or artists responsible for the Pan editions - the second of the stamp images - could not be traced.
Penguin books have revealed the cover to the next Bond novel written by Sebastian Faulks. (See www.penguin007.com and thepenguinblog.typepad.com.)
The girl on the cover is a model called Tuuli Shipster.
The book is due to be published next May
I finally bought a copy of the new hardback of James Bond The Authorised Biography by John Pearson. It's also available in a trade paperback. I quite like the simplicity of the cover design. I thought I'd share a scan of the back cover with you.
That photo reminds me very much of the early 1970s Pan covers, in particular the cover for Dr No.
I emailed the photographer Colin Thomas to ask who the model was. He replied to say it is Jacqui Ainsley.
I noticed this story in the paper during last week. The Royal Mail will be releasing a special set of James Bond stamps in 2008 to mark the centernery of Fleming's birth. The stamps will feature a number of book covers, including the onld pan covers I like so much. Here's a photo of two of them...
James Bond The Authorised Biography by John Pearson has been reprinted in hardback. It was first published back in the 1970s.
Fred has prompted me to update the page with last week's news that Sebastian Faulks has written the new James Bond novel for publication on the centernery of Fleming's birth, 28 May 2008.
What's interesting is the original news stories I read stated that it would be the first adult Bond novel in 42 years. This seems to have been corrected later in the day.