FLEMING, Ian (1908-1964). Thunderball. London: Jonathan Cape, 1961.

FLEMING, Ian (1908-1964). Thunderball. London: Jonathan Cape, 1961.

First edition, first impression, first issue, presentation copy inscribed by Fleming to Noël Coward: ‘‘To Noël, / In exchange for / the copy of P & C / he didn’t send me! / With love / Ian.’ Thunderball is the first Bond novel to introduce the S.P.E.C.T.R.E crime syndicate, led by criminal mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Fleming’s inscription refers to Coward’s first and only novel, Pomp and Circumstance (1960), at the centre of which is a thinly veiled account of Fleming’s affair with Ann. Set on the fictional island of Samolo – a close match for Jamaica – it concerns the secret relationship between the aristocratic Eloise and her lover, Bunny, whose character mirrors Fleming’s almost exactly. ‘In the character of Bunny [...] we have a remarkably unflinching portrait of Ian Fleming's time on the island in 1949-51, the years immediately preceding his marriage to Ann and the simultaneous launch of James Bond […] It’s astonishing how little Coward bothered to make up’ (Parker, p.91). Matthew Parker. Goldeneye: Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica. London: Windmill Books, 2015. Gilbert A9a (1.1).

Octavo (187 x 123mm). Original dark brown cloth, upper cover blindstamped with large skeletal hand design, original dust-jacket after Richard Chopping, first issue with price ‘15s. net’ on front flap (very faint stain to small portion of front panel, 15mm tear to bottom edge of rear panel, minor shelfwear). Provenance: Noël Coward (1899-1973; author’s presentation inscription, bookplate).

Special Notice

No VAT on hammer price or buyer's premium.