Advance bindings of the Ian Fleming books are rare gems indeed - but I still think there's more out there, just waiting to be 'discovered'
One of the most popular blogs I published in 2024 was about a particular variant of James Bond first editions – books that are (still) largely shrouded in mystery, and which I deliberately referred to as ‘amongst the very first of the first editions’ – the Boots ‘Booklovers Library’ editions.
These distinctively-bound (rainbow-coloured) books were destined for Boots pharmacists shops (when they ran a lending library up till the early 1960s). They were some of the very first ‘finished’ publicly available editions (ie not proof copies), by virtue of them needing to be produced, distributed and catalogued to be ready in advance of the official publishing date of the Jonathan Cape books.
For this reason, their production pre-dates official first impressions, and they are now increasingly being sought. Adding to their mystery is the fact these particular copies are part of a bibliographic hole in the world of Bond book collecting – as there does not seem to be a definitive and full list of how many different types were made.
To prove this point, jamesbondfirsteditions.co.uk proudly revealed that it had found a green cloth-bound Boots Dr No. So such Boots book has hitherto been recorded in this colour – making this one something of a first.
'Advance binding' copies
But these were not the ‘only’ early copies made, so I feel it’s only right that I follow up with what is an unofficial part 2 to that blog – about Bond titles that are also difficult to find much information about – but which are also amongst the first of the first impressions – so-called ‘advance bindings’.
Unlike the Boots Booklover editions, these fully-made – but obviously pre-production – books can be said to be 'proper' Cape books, by virtue of each of them featuring either the Jonathan Cape urn logo, or its written name on the spine.
Just like the Boots books though, they feature very bright cloth boards – perhaps the most famous of which is the baby ‘blue’ coloured Moonraker – see picture left.
This book is now believed to exist in minute quantities – some say less than ten are known to exist to this day.
There are a number of key differences with this book. Although it outwardly features the same silver blocking as the standard black first edition on both the spine and front board, the title 'Moonraker' is actually positioned lower down on the front board compared to the eventual trade first edition (it's actually in a similar space to the final printing of this book - the impression with the black DJ). Also, Jonathan Cape is written-out as text rather than using the Cape colophon.
Another element that all the advance Jonathan Cape proof books all seem to share is the fact they have a 'stained' top page block too - see picture, left.
Advance bindings are still mysterious
This particular example perfectly illustrates why the advance bindings are still so enigmatic.
Booksellers have suggested that this example actually comprises one of 300 or so books thought to have been sold to public libraries – although several commentators say this theory can’t hold water, because if that were the case, there should be more surviving copies than there are. But also, they say that such an elaborate blocking would not have been used for just a library edition.
Other theories suggest it may also have been a test binding or mock up of some sort, to test the binder’s block, or a particular production method.
A test book certainly sounds possible. A single copy of Thunderball is known to exist, where the skeletal hand on the front board was stamped with silver foil (see left).
It is believed this was done to test if the outcome warranted mass production. The idea was clearly ditched – much like the ‘gold gun’ on the front boards of The Man With The Golden Gun – which also eventually got rejected).
However, this Thunderball is referred to though as a ‘trial binding’ by bibliographer Jon Gilbert – as distinct from an advance binding.
Finally, there’s some who say it’s an early mock-up, destined for advance reviewers (making it post- the uncorrected proof stage, but prior to actually gearing up for production of the finished books).
What isn’t disputed though, is the fact that this binding was a binding on behalf of the publisher; one that was not intended to be commercially available, and thus should be considered very rare indeed.
What Gilbert says
Bibliographer Jon Gilbert categorically disregards the trial-binding theory, and is much more definite.
He says “extensive study of the Cape archives has revealed the true identity of the unusual coloured bindings.” He writes that Moonraker (the first advance binding noted), is one of 300 advance copies that went to UK libraries. In Moonraker’s case these were sent out one month prior to the official publication date.
It is also noted that all the advance bindings contain the corrected final state of the text.
Other advance bindings Gilbert refers to are:
Title Colour Numbers produced
Diamonds Are Forever Blue binding: 300 copies
Dr No Red binding: 505 copies
Thunderball Green binding 506 copies
You Only Live Twice Green binding 1,206 copies
The Man With The Golden Gun Orange/red binding 1,510 copies
Each of these advance binding are considered important and significant enough to warrant having a special place in the Ian Fleming Bibliographic Archive.
Are these collectable?
Obviously, by virtue of their tiny numbers, these books should be considered as being collectable indeed – albeit that they might satisfy only very niche collectors; those who want every possible combination of each book – uncorrected proof, advance binding, Boots binding and regular first impression etc.
But how likely are they to turn up?
Here at www.jamesbondfirsteditions.co.uk we’ve got something of an unparalleled (we think) track record in unearthing these advance bindings.
In fact, so much so, that we can actually take credit for actually ‘discovering’ not one, but two titles in advance binding status that Jon Gilbert himself admits to not ever having seen before (and which were omitted from the bibliography).
In 2019 we were the first to identify the existence of an advance binding of Octopussy & The Living Daylights (in red cloth) - see below:
Since then two more have come to light – one of which was also found by www.jamesbondfirsteditions.co.uk.
More recently (in 2020) we ‘discovered’ what is so far the ONLY known example of an advance binding of From Russia With Love (also in red cloth).
Unlike the blue Moonraker, note how the text on the spine of the advance From Russia With Love is completely different to usual: much thinner and slighter compared to the blocky tea-crate font used for the final first impression (and which mimicked the DJ).
Owing to them thus-far not having any bibliographic mention, Octopussy and Dr No will both – we understand – get a deserved mention in the next update to the bibliography.
This will ensure both these books become part of the bibliographic history of Ian Fleming books. A feather in our cap!!
But is that it?
No! Have another quick look at the main picture at the top of this blog.
It shows a 'blue' advance binding example of Goldfinger - which is the third advance binding not mentioned in Gilbert's bibliography. We didn't discover this one, but late last year, we did strike gold again – this time turning up one few surviving ‘red’ The Man With The Golden Gun advance bindings (see pics below):
Not only did we manage to locate one more of this rarely-seen book, we found it complete with its original jacket (see above).
Although the jacket is not in the best of conditions – what’s special about it (and definitely NOT worth putting swapping a substitute jacket on it), is the fact it doesn't have the Cape decorative corner clips – indicating it’s a true advance-state jacket. The sum of the book and jacket is definitely greater than its constituent parts.
So...does this mean there are more out there?
Is it luck that we’ve managed to get this sort of hit rate with advance proofs?
Perhaps not surprisingly, www.jamesbondfirsteditions.co.uk gets luckier the harder we work, and the harder we search (!)
These books don’t find themselves. It’s our constant hunting, our constant searching, and our constant rooting around that these books finally see the light of day.
Five years’ of near constant hunting suggests these books simply don’t come up very regularly at all.
But, averaging one big ‘find’ every year-and-a-half suggests there ‘is’ likely to be other out there, still waiting to be discovered.
I know of one collector, for instance, who recently found one of the green-bound advance Cape copies of You Only Live Twice.
What if…?
And there’s one tantalizing question…
What if there are advance bindings of other Fleming titles that are not yet currently known about – books that are just waiting to be found and documented for the very first time.
These would include Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, and The Spy Who Loved Me.
After all, why would only some books get advanced bindings and others didn’t?
To me it doesn't make sense that some titles have advance bindings, and some do not.
OK, the first two books might not have had advance bindings, but advance bindings do go right up to the very last book, so it feels eminently possible that the middle-years books should get advance bindings too.
The fact we’ve discovered two unknown advance bindings in just the last few years suggests there's no reason why others aren't waiting to be found.
These undiscovered books could (right now), be sitting in a drawer, or in someone’s attic, or in a box ‘somewhere’ gathering dust.
Won’t it be a thrill when these other advance bindings (for I’m sure they’re out there), are finally found?
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