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PEARSON**, JOHN: : The Life of IAN FLEMING - creator of James Bond

LONDON.CAPE,1966.

ISBN No ISBN.

UK,8vo UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY.NFINE/VG+.No owner inscrptn,no price-clip to dw/dj. Publisher's green+white patterned wraps (publisher colophons),black ink lettering; with negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present. Spine/backstrip considerably wrinkled vertically,but these are not reading creases,more likely the production fault from the "perfect binding" technique - i.e. glueing of the signatures,rather than the sewn method.No loss to same. Oversize,bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour subject portrait, photographic hologram illustrated dw/dj by Jan Pienkowski (noted creator of the pop-up books Haunted House and The Robot), showing some sign of wear,due in part,to oversize with some minimal creasing and a couple of slight,closed tears/nicks to top edges,and a vertical crease to spine/ backstrip.UK,large 8vo wraps,11-346pp [paginated] includes 25 chapters,8 b/w facsimile reproductions of documents interspersed throughout the text and the book,16pp of contemporary biographical,b/w photographs between pp160/1 and uncompleted index,plus [unpaginated] eps, title-page,contents+illus lists/tables, acknowledgements,dedication and 4pp blanks to rear.Very,very SCARCE in this format, and particularly even more so,with the actual dw/dj. Please contact seller,because of the value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

UK,8vo wraps+dw/dj,uncorrected proof.
Not SIGNED.

PEARSON**, JOHN: : THE LIFE OF IAN FLEMING - creator of James Bond

LONDON.CAPE,1966.

ISBN No ISBN.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/NFINE.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated colour pictorial,wrap-around artwork (Fleming's head bust) illustrations by Jan Pienkowski,with bright,crisp gilt and blue lettering; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present.Some minimal and minor laminate breakdown over passage of time,to edges and corners - unobtrusive though - and spine/ backstrip inevitably, but minimally faded - side profile of Fleming face and gilt+blue lettering slightly affected and lightly discoloured. Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, publisher's original plain black cloth bds with a bright,crisp,stamped gilt abstract design/motif to front bd and bright,crisp, stamped gilt lettering to spine/backstrip, rear bd plain black,with immaculate mauve eps - front free endpaper with Fleming's facsimile illustrated personal bookplate, rear eps unillustrated and plain.Top edges coloured a rose-pink with light fading towards headband area; fore-edges bright and clean - no foxing - contents bright, tight,clean,solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - appears unread,apart from my own collation.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,11-351pp.[paginated] includes 25 chapters,16pp contemporary b/w illus+auto+ biographical photographs in 1 block, between pp160/1,8 b/w documents facsimile reproductions interspersed throughout the text and the book and an index,plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages, contents list/table with illustrations list/table to reverse,acknowledgements,and dedication (to Leonard Russell).Dw/dj designed by Jan Pienkowski (noted creator of the pop-up books 'Haunted House' and 'The Robot'. When Ian Fleming died in 1964,the international cult of James Bond had already begun.Not since Sherlock Holmes had any fictional character claimed such an enormous following,or so typified his age. About Fleming himself,however,very little of importance has been disclosed until now. His popularity became a mask which remained intact until his death - the wry,disarming smile,the black ebonite cigarette holder,the bow tie,the deceptively lethargic Old Etonian drawl. The full,strange story of his life has been unravelled by John Pearson,who worked with him for several years on the 'Sunday Times'. Gathering material for his book,he travelled almost 100,000 miles and interviewed more than 150 people.From this extensive research,and from his study of Fleming's private papers,he shows that although Fleming disclaimed connection with 'that cardboard booby',the Bond books were, in fact,his undercover autobiography. Fleming's first contact with the world of spies and secrets came in 933,when he was sent to Moscow by Reuter to cover the famous trial of the Btitish engineers.He went to Russia again in 1939 for 'The Times',and soon after his return was appointed Personal Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence at the Admiralty.He spent the war engaged in activities as exciting as any featured in the James Bond stories. At this time,Fleming was a tall, impressive figure in the uniform of an R.N.V.R. commander,irresistible to women, charming to men,full of energy and love of life.In 1945,he becme Foreign Manager of Kemsley Newspapers at a salary of £5,000 a year plus expenses,and it was then that he built his house,Goldeneye,in Jamaica,the birthplace of James Bond. He wrote his first novel,'Casino Royale', at the age of 42 on the eve of his marriage,but it was not until 'From Russia,With Love' that he achieved his breakthrough into recognition.Since then, fostered by the films and fantastic sale of the novels,James Bond has become one of the most extraordinary socil phenomena of our times. But Fleming's health had begun to fail, and he no longer had the strength to keep up with the tough hero he had created.It was the struggle to match his pace with Bond's that finally killed him. Born in 1930,John Pearson was a Scholar of Peterhouse and gained a double first in histry at Cambridge.He was working as a television scriptwriter when he met Fleming who offered him a job as his assistant on the Atticus column of the 'Sunday Times'. Please contact seller,because of the value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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