Last week’s ‘last impressions’ blog really captured people’s imaginations, So, as promised, this week I'm taking a closer look at what's different about last impressions compared to 1sts:
As both a book collector and bookseller, it was amazing to see that last week’s blog about ‘last impressions’ really seemed to capture people’s imaginations.
For while later impressions are really just that – books somewhere in the mid-history of a particular books’ publishing history – it’s the very last impressions that really are finite.
Not all last impressions are, the same impression (if you get my drift).
For Bond titles, the ‘last impression’ goes as high as the 15th (Live and Let Die); while for others the last impression can be the 6th, 8th, 11th or 12th impression to name but a few. For one particular book, the first impression is also the last impression (Octopussy & The Living Daylights).
But what unites ‘all’ last impressions – regardless of what their specific impression number is, is their ultimate finality – the fact that this particular edition marked the end of a glorious road. It’s the last time they were made in hardcover form; the last time Jonathan Cape believed they were profitable/had a market/were worth printing as hardcovers. In essence, last Cape impressions really represent is the death of Bond in hardback form.
Given most editions ended towards the end of the 1970s and some into the 1980s, its remarkable they actually lasted for as long as they did. By then Pan had sold millions (literally millions), of paperbacks.
But what else can we say about these last prints?
As promised in last week’s blog, this week I’m going to be looking at the last impression books in a bit more detail – showing (perhaps for the first time), each last impression directly alongside its first impression counterpart.
I’ll also be detailing my observations about similarities/differences.
So here goes .
Note: Any last impression books that you have may vary from mine – due to changes occurring in the production line, inks, cloth etc.
The observations I see are simply what I notice comparing my first impressions with my last impressions.
PS: For the purposes of this comparison, I’m mainly just comparing the boards and the covers rather than the typesetting - although there are a few exceptions - so keep reading to find out what they are:
Casino Royale
It’s well known (I think), that the completed (ie bound-up) first and second impressions of Casino Royale were 2mm taller than the rest of the Cape set – due to them having an untrimmed lower page deckle, which required a taller board. It was only from the third print onwards that the height of the book was reduced to the uniform height of rest of the Cape books -194mm.
The cloth for the 1st impression is noted as being Fabroleen, but by the last impression it’s also noted as being a “Fabroleen equivalent” – and it’s my observation that the cloth does indeed look different on the last print – with the dimples not as pronounced, and flatter in appearance (see picture above and left). The book to the right of the pic on the left is the last impression.
It was only from the third print onwards that the height of the book was reduced to the uniform height of rest of the Cape books: 194mm.
For the last impression of Casino Royale, Gilbert does actually note that the paper size is shorter for this singular impression – but with no details why (183 x 122mm for the last impression compared to 192mm x 125mm for the first impression) – the evidence of which can be seen in the photos here.
Not mentioned by Gilbert, but which makes sense, is that because the last impression is noticeably shorter, the red lettering to the spine of the boards drops considerably on the last impression compared to the first impression (almost by a whole capital letter).
The greater brightness of the red ink on the spine of my last impression may just be because the last impression is newer, but what I definitely see on my last print copy (again, not mentioned by Gilbert), is that the red heart to the front board uses a definite reflective, glossy ink, compared to the flat, matt ink used for the first impression (which shows no reflection at all).
Hopefully this can be seen in the image above, with the glossy heart reflecting the light.
Live and Let Die
The most obvious difference when it comes to comparing the first and last impressions of Live and Let Die are the real additional notches in brightness and clarity of the dust jacket.
As the photo (left) shows, the last impression has been transformed from a dark magenta into a radiant and vibrant, Fuchsia, almost pink colour. (The duller first impression is not explained by old age/sunning). The yellow of the last print is also far more pulsating, and the printing is crisper too.
Less obvious is the fact that while the gilt is brighter (as expected), I would argue the gilt used for the gold coin on the first impression is far more copper/bronze (in colour), compared to the last impression. The last print (above left), has a much more ‘golden’ colour to it, and I don’t think the bronze/copper of the first impression can be explained by it tarnishing.
What isn’t a matter of opinion, and which can clearly be observed is the fact that the last edition is significantly shorter than the first (above).
Gilbert does not mention this, but he does say that the last impression was the ONLY impression of Live and Let Die printed by King’s English Bookprinters Ltd and bound by WBC Bookbinders – a factor that might account for the discrepancy in size. The 13th print was the first jacket to have an ISBN number – as present on this 15th, and final print too.
PS – Some of you might have noticed that last week and this week I talk about the '15th' impression of Live and Let Die as being the final impression. The eagle-eyed amongst you might have spotted that there are only 14 impressions noted on ‘final impression’ books (see above). This is a Cape error, rather than my error. There WERE 15 impressions, although the 9th is ignored on this and all subsequent printings from the 10th onwards. There appears to only be two known examples of 9th printing books.
Moonraker
The jet-black jacket and striking ‘Moonraker’ title in raised silver foil is the biggest immediate visual difference between the first and final editions (the black jacket appeared for just the final three: 9th-11th printings). The new 9th impression jacket was also the first Moonraker edition to carry and ISBN number and a credit for Kevin McClory for Thunderball.
Intriguingly, in describing the attributes of this different jacket, Gilbert doesn’t note that the diagonal Moonraker lettering on the front cover, and the Moonraker lettering the spine of jacket is raised.
But it most definitely is – see this close up pic below of the obverse of the spine in particular – showing that it’s been embossed.
What’s also of note though – and which very much ‘is’ mentioned by Gilbert is that the final edition oddly sees the ‘Moonraker’ lettering on the front board blocked considerably lower than the first print – starting some 33mm from the top edge. No reason is given as to why this might be, but it’s not as random as it appears. The positioning of the front board lettering is the same as on the very first advance-print ‘blue’ copies. Was the same blocking used for advance bindings used for the very final binding, I wonder?
The earliest 1st impressions (those that with the ‘shoo’ error), were noted for being printed on very thin paper – bulking to just 15mm. Later-run first impressions (which corrected the shoo error), were printed on thicker paper, bulking to 19mm. But as the pic left shows, being on thicker paper stock, the last impression is much thicker than even the 19mm shown next to it.
Diamonds Are Forever
What is starting to become a common observation about the last impressions James Bond books is that their jackets have a much fuller colour palette.
This is certainly the case for Diamonds are Forever (as it was for Live and Let Die), but fuller does not always (in my opinion) mean better.
If we compare the first and last impressions alongside each other, the last impression is certainly more arresting, but it is-so from a very blocked-colour-sort-of-look. It’s brighter, but also much flatter, without any of the shadows in the black area of the women’s dress and certainly none of the hints of shadow of the woman’s skin that was achieved on the first impression.
The last impression is a depth-less mass of impactful ink, but it has none of the subtlety of the first impression in my humble view. The black ink sucks away any light light, and gives the face and body of the woman a rather ghostly, silhouette-like and disembodied look.
Perhaps that was the intent – to almost throw her figure into light, while all around her is dark. But I do just think it is a bit ‘too’ much one way.
On my particular last impression copy, the pages ‘hang’ slightly higher up than the first impression, but that might just be the way they’ve been trimmed and bound.
A fun fact however, is that on the back flap of the jacket (which shows a full-bleed picture of Ian Fleming on the back) – the chronology of the books is WRONG.
If you take a look a the picture, you can see how Octopussy & The Living Daylights is listed ahead of The Man With the Golden Gun. Tut-tut!
From Russia With Love
There’s no better example of how the last impression books render the printing of the same jacket design so differently than From Russia With Love.
The amount of black ink used on the final print really does jump out. Such is its dominance, that the subtle wood grain effect seen on the first impression has been obliterated on the last impression, becoming far more prominent, almost distractingly-so. Everything is ramped up – from the deeper greens of the rose leaves on the last impression jacket, to the deeper red of the rose itself. The gun itself – both the metal of the gun and its handle – are much more (and menacingly) darker.
Unlike Diamonds Are Forever, I don’t dislike it, but it is different, and takes some getting used to.
In the same way in which the print quality is much more crisp on the last impression’s jacket, it follows through onto the blocking of the book’s boards.
If you take a look at the rose/gun blocking on the front boards of both the first and last prints next to each other, you can very evidently see that the image is significantly sharper on the last print (far right). The edges are cleaner and more accurate, and the red rose is also more defined and more precise. To me, the blocking on the first impression (middle image), isn’t just a bit more ‘blurred-looking’; it looks less accomplished compared to the last impression. To me it looks like new, better quality blocks, have used to stamp out the design.
Possibly because it’s newer, the red foil on the last impression looks brighter and redder than the first impression (see top book, left).
Has my first impression spine lettering dulled a bit? Possibly, although the foil on the last might well be better to start with. It certainly looks that way.
Just like Diamonds are Forever, there’s another chronology error - this time inside the book too, on the early pages, listing the previous books. This time You Only Live Twice is listed ahead of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Stay tuned!
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the first five 'first' and 'last' print books shown side by side.
Showing them together like this dramatically reveals how they differ between their initial, and final printings.
Next week I’ll continue my walk-through, showing you some interesting differences between the two.
They’ll be some that I promise you’ll either have not noticed before, or won’t have heard about….
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