It's finally here - the 70th Anniversary Queen Anne Press limited edition of Casino Royal. Just 26 A-Z lettered books exist and jamesbondfirsteditions was granted the exclusive 'first look'...
There’s something uniquely wonderful about unwrapping a bespoke, limited run book – one that you know has been lovingly handcrafted and produced to exceptional production standards.
Queen Anne Press (first set up by Ian Fleming himself; now by Ian Fleming’s nephew, Fergus Fleming), has been doing this for more than 70 years, and its latest book – Casino Royale – is one book that has had collectors chomping at the bit to see.
Announced nearly two years go, and originally intended to mark the 70th anniversary of the first appearance of James Bond (ie it was due out in 2023); this limited edition fine binding/deluxe letterpress edition of Casino Royale has had a tortured production – one every bit as bad as having your privates beaten to a pulp.
But it’s testament to QAP's very high standards - wanting to produce only the finest product possible - that it didn’t succumb to pushing out a half-right version just to appease impatient collectors.
It might be late – but better to have it late (I would say), and make it as good as it can be, than push it out early and not live up to its promise.
So what’s it actually like?
My book arrived – delivered in person by Fergus Fleming himself – last weekend, just a few days before it was officially listed as being available on the QAP website. With a polite request by Fergus to keep details of it under my hat until the book officially ‘went live’ jamesbondfirsteditions was given exclusive permission by Fergus to do a detailed ‘first look’.
Remember – only 26 of these exist – numbered A-Z. This is book ‘B’ – my own personal copy (B for ‘Bond’ was my thinking).
First looks:
Housed in a beautifully-crafted, and very solid Bentley-green clamshell solander box (measuring 27x20x5.5cm), it feels weighty and substantial, and of course, you are immediately struck by the large ‘Casino Royale’ lettering in gold gilt lettering down the side.
The box is kept closed by three cleverly inserted magnets, and when opened, the book - in all it’s splendor - is revealed; sitting snugly as it is on a bed of black felt, which is also repeated on the lid of the box too.
An inviting silver ribbon tempts you to lift the book out from its housing.
So what do we find?
The book itself is large – 26cm tall, and it looks resplendent.
Immediately the Harmattan leather feels soft, supple and warm to the touch.
You cannot miss the distinctive red spine – also set with the same ‘Casino Royale’ in gilt – but also unmissable is the front board, dominated by the ‘A whisper of love’ motto – debossed in the classical Italian font, Bodoni – with the red leather inlay – which, says Fergus, is “following Ian's original design for Casino Royale.”
The front of the book says A whisper of love, and cleverly, the back says A whisper of hate – the two big themes of the book.
The binding itself is strong and firm, and is by Ludlow Bookbinders. It simply cannot be faulted. The grain on the leather is wonderful; it’s thick enough to almost feel cushioned in your hand, and it while large, the book doesn’t feel too big or bulky.
The red spine has been deliberately hard ‘pinched-in’ (see left) – creating a striking grove along the full-height of the book, back and front. And it’s a joy to hold.
Inside:
Trying not to open the book too wide at this point, immediately you are struck by the real elegant simplicity of the layout.
Each ‘Chapter X’ heading starts from the same height on the page (5cm down from the top of the page), and in a smaller type to the main chapter title below it – which itself sits below an elegant sweeping line across the page.
Looking at the page, you experience a real sense of space – the maximum number of lines on a page is 28 (to a total text depth comprising 16 cm), but there is so much room around the words. The lines are only 10.5 cm wide, meaning you get a big, generous white border around the text itself – a feature that makes it feel like the text isn’t too dense or overpowering.
On some chapter title pages, the amount of text is half what a full page would fit in.
On a full page of text, the base of the last line of text sits 5cm up from the bottom of the page, while the top of the first line is 3.5 cm down from the top. All told, it means the text sits up on the page, with more space below than above it.
Typographically, the text is 15 point Centaur – a very pleasing to the eye serif typeface, first designed by book and typeface designer, Bruce Rogers.
Known as a Venetian face, it is characterized by oblique stress, minimal contrast between thick and thin strokes, a slanted bar in the e, and heavy serifs.
The text layout was designed and typeset by Webb & Webb – and overall, the book comes to exactly 200 pages - not far short of the original 1953 Cape Casino Royale (213 pages).
The paper
It’s difficult to describe this – but the paper is a brilliant white, with a very thick feel. But it’s thick with a luxurious feel, rather than being thick but having an unsatisfactory feel to it.
When I first touched the paper, I told Fergus it almost felt like blotting paper – and I wasn’t actually that far wrong.
The paper is specifically, Bockingford White, at 150gsm. Bockingford is extremely popular by watercolour artists, and Fergus informed me that this paper is particularly suitable for letterpress printing, as it soaks the ink up, without creating any smudges or blurred edges.
The paper is not smooth, or glossy looking, but has a matt, textured feel to it.
At 150gsm, this is about as thick as paper can be before it becomes stiffer, and less bendable. I think the thickness feels just right.
The paper was supplied and printed on by Phil Abel of Hand and Eye Press (London) – the fine printers and suppliers of letterpress type.
Verdict
So, what’s my verdict, you might well be asking?
I’m going to divide my verdict into two.
Production:
From a production point of view, and from the point of view of this being a bespoke item, I think the book is exceptionally well made.
The boards are straight, the corners are neat (this was tricky, apparently, due to the thick leather), and the spine and the stitching is superb.
This has the look, and the feel, of a superb, handcrafted item. There’s no scratches on the leather, the debossing is deep, and it all combines to create a luxuriant product. I can’t fault the production, and I salute QAP for holding firm when earlier attempts were clearly not right.
The paper is bright, and white, and has a high density and quality feel about it. I expect this paper will stay in good condition if kept securely in its box.
Design:
From a design point of view, my reflections are just a fraction more mixed.
Like most collectors who knew this book was coming – I had no real vision in my mind about what exactly it would look like. Might it repeat the original design? I didn’t know.
I love the box, and I love the construction, the finish, and the colour of the box. I also love the striking title down the side. But do I ‘love’ the actual book quite as much?
The daring red spine was a surprise. Could the cover have been a bit more illustrative? I possibly think so. That said, I liked the mottos, front and back, and the bright red heart mimicking the front board of the original Casino Royale.
If I was designing from scratch, I might have been tempted to use a blue/grey leather, and repeat the entire original jacket – but that’s just me.
I’m sure many people will love the minimalism, and they’ll love the green - and I can fully understand that.
Overall I think the design and the look of the book is great; there’s a small part of me that says it could have been different (but couldn’t it always?), and I salute the design vision and the simplicity of design.
This is a design that I would say is growing on me. I like it much more a week after owning it.
Should you buy this?
At £750 it’s not cheap, but considering the Folio Society’s recent limited edition of Casino Royal was £500, I think the production values you’re buying here are far superior.
(Also, the Folio book had a less exclusive, higher print run of 750 copies).
You have to remember that this is a very limited run book.
Just 26 of these will ever exist.
I already know that there are not many left, so if you do want one, you need to get in quick.
There are some very minor points that I must mention.
The end papers are in plain grey card – perhaps something more could have been done with these (or maybe we’ve been treated too well be the fantastic endpapers on each of the new Ian Fleming Publication hardbacks).
A point I feel I must also make, is that the page block will be heavy, so will this book survive being stood up (gravity pulling on the stitching), or is it best kept flat?
I suspect the binding will hold, but I also suspect it will be better kept flat.
Another very small point is something I've noticed at the back of the book, where it says this is produced by QAP in two limitations [’26 copies lettered A-Z and 150 copies numbered 001-150’].
I would have liked to have seen the description for the limited 26 books to be much more obviously described as different from the regular 150.
As it stands, it sort of gives the impression this same binding has been used for the rest of the 150 – which is not the case.
While the 150-book ‘regular’ set is indeed printed on the very same paper-stock, to the same specifications, it very much ‘is’ a different book, and bound using a different material and design (I know, I’ve seen one of the 150 book set too).
Having paid up for this more expensive book, I guess I would have just liked this lettered binding (the deluxe version) to be labeled as being the more exclusive one.
Oh, and one last thing, the colophon says it was published in 2023. OK, that's when this was originally due to be out, but it is now 2025, and it's only just become available. Maybe it's not a biggie, and maybe I'm nit-picking now, but it's technically wrong! I suspect that's when the sheets were printed, and they've sat waiting to be bound.
Overall: So what's my overall verdict?
Well, if you’ve got the money, and want a book that you know hardly anyone else will ever have and is produced to the highest standards possible, get it.
I don’t think you’ll regret it.
Just one thing though, I suspect you've got to be quick…
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