FLEMING, Ian.

£47,500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Casino Royale. First edition, inscribed on the front free endpaper: "Kenneth Lewis who executed the dust jacket based upon a design provided by Ian Fleming". Kenneth Lewis (1926-2013) was Fleming's colleague at Kemsley Newspapers. Loosely inserted is one of nine original watercolours by Lewis; in 2005 he also produced a set of three watercolours for Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, and Moonraker.Also loosely inserted is a Bank of England 10 shilling note signed across the centre by Ian Fleming. It is printed in red-brown, with a metal security thread, features a vignette of Britannia, and the chief cashier's facsimile signature is that of L. K. O'Brien, all of which dates the note between 1955 and 1961. In theory, it was illegal to deface Bank of England notes, but the practice was commonplace for raffles and charity events.Fleming's first novel had an initial print run of 4,760 copies. "Many of these went to public libraries and we believe that less than half of the first printing was sold to the public" (Biondi & Pickard).

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