The Spy who Loved Me

Jonathan Cape. London: Jonathan Cape, 1962 8vo., black publisher's boards with dagger motif blocked in silver to upper board; lettered in silver along spine with Jonathan Cape device to foot; red endpapers; preserved in the original unclipped Richard Chopping dust jacket (15s. net); pp. [x], 11-221, [iii]; including an illustration of 'Dreamy Pines Motor Court' to p. [vi-vii]; light compression to edges and spine tips; upper edge a trifle spotted; otherwise a very fresh, bright copy; the unrestored jacket near-fine, with light creasing and browning.  First edition, first impression.  The shortest and most sexually explicit of Fleming's Bond novels, told from the perspective of a young woman (Vivienne). The infamous protagonist himself does not appear until halfway through the novel, when he appears to rescue Viv from the clutches of two dangerous criminals. The adult content proved controversial, and reviews were mixed, prompting Fleming to try and suppress reprints of the book. Indeed, paperback versions did not appear until after the author's death in 1964.  Fleming regularly drove past a lonely motel in the Adirondack mountains in upstate New York, and it was this location that he based his 'Dreamy Pines Motor Court' on. A number of designs  for the dust jacket were proposed, including broken perfume bottles, pine cones and poison ivy, before the current design was finally confirmed. . Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1962.