Rare books from Adrian Harrington Rare Books

London: Jonathan Cape, 1963. [Spy novel] FIRST EDITION, SIGNED PRESENTATION COPY. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.288. Publisher's dark grey cloth-effect paper over boards with silver titles to spine, in original jacket designed by Richard Chopping, priced at 16s. Inscribed by the author to his close friend John Hayward; "To John | to pick holes in! | from | Ian". A lovely near fine copy in a morocco-spined clamshell box. A charming and close association; Hayward (1905-65) was a fellow bibliophile and writer who lived in the same Chelsea apartment block as Ian Fleming. The written comment refers to Hayward's assiduous editorial skills; Hayward sat on the board of Fleming's Book Collector journal and, for many years, was its editor-in-chief. This copy has resided in two prominent collections, firstly that of Roger Rechler (sold at Christies, 2002, $11,950) and later the property of Football Hall of Famer Pat McInally.

London: Jonathan Cape, 1956. [Spy thriller] FIRST EDITION, Binding A. SIGNED PRESENTATION COPY. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.257 [1]. Publisher's black cloth titled in silver, with the pictorial dust-jacket designed by Pat Marriott priced at 12/6. Inscribed by the author to flyleaf "To Paul, /who spread his / wings over / my first born. // with affection / from / Ian [underline]". A little spotting, heavier to top edge, jacket slightly toned to spine. Very good, in an elegant leather-spined collector's clamshell box. The recipient is Paul Gallico, friend and champion of the budding author Fleming. He was the person who first 'spotted 007', according to both the present inscription, and Fleming's biographer John Pearson (writing in the Sunday Times, Paul Gallico obituary, 18th July 1976). A significant association, and the greatest and most poignant of the known Fleming-Gallico presentations, on one of the most difficult Bond titles to acquire signed. A remarkable combination. Gilbert, Jon: Ian Fleming The… Read More

New American Library, 1964. Octavo. Original ochre cloth, top edge orange. With dust jacket. Housed in a custom blue morocco-backed folding box. Corners slightly bumped, browning to first and final leaves, a near-fine copy. Some staining to dust jacket with extremities worn and tears to spine, a good copy. First US edition, first printing, presentation copy inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper "To Robert MacKenna from Ian Fleming". The US edition of Thrilling Cities is exceptionally difficult to obtain in signed state. The Sunday Times articles (1959-60), collected here for the first time in an American book-form edition, also include the James Bond short story "007 in New York", which was not included in the UK edition. This copy is from the significant Ian Fleming collection of Martin Schøyen (b.1940), with his bookplate. Schøyen's private collection of manuscripts, which span all cultures and all time periods, is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. Gilbert… Read More

Jonathan Cape, 1964. Octavo. Original black boards, spine lettered in silver, Japanese characters blocked in gilt to front cover, bamboo-patterned endpapers. With dust jacket. Housed in a custom dark blue quarter morocco folding box. A very good copy, minor lean to spine, edges lightly toned and foxed, but internally still attractive and with bright and clear inscription from the author, in like dust jacket, toned, edges rubbed and nicked, but still sharp. First edition, second issue, presentation copy, in the "A" binding, signed and inscribed by the author to the front free endpaper, "To Elizabeth. Get well soon! from Ian Fleming.". A fine example of Fleming's characteristic handwriting with flourish and underlines, boldly signed. This second issue of the first edition can be distinguished by the "published March" copyright page. This copy was inscribed in March 1964 by the then-ailing Fleming, who was suffering from poor health. He died from a heart attack in August 1964. The recipient of this copy… Read More

Jonathan Cape and Hodder & Stoughton Ltd., 1986. Comprising the complete text in 295 numbered pages on A4 sheets, printed to the rectos only. Loose leaves, housed in a simple card folder. In near-fine condition, with the occasional fold and crease to folios. The corrected manuscript of the 1986 James Bond continuation novel, signed by the author and inscribed by him to the first leaf: "final, edited ms." Each leaf, without exception, is heavily annotated in various hands and inks. The manuscript is complete, with all preliminary and title pages included. This item was purchased directly from the author shortly before his death in 2007 and is from the significant Ian Fleming collection of Martin Schøyen (b.1940), with his bookplate. Schøyen's private collection of manuscripts, which span all cultures and all time periods, is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. MS5602; Gilbert, page 613; The Schøyen Collection No. 309.

Jonathan Cape, 1963. Octavo. Original grey-brown boards (binding A, no priority), spine lettered in silver, white ski track design on front cover. With dust jacket. Housed in a custom cream cloth chemise and slipcase by James MacDonald of New York. A little rubbing, slight lean to spine, publisher's date stamp on rear free endpaper verso. A very good copy indeed in like dust jacket, not price-clipped, spine lettering unusually bright, couple of nicks and spots of rubbing, foxing to rear panel, a sharp example. First edition, first impression, presentation copy, inscribed by the author to his typist on the front free endpaper: "To Margaret Anderson who wrote it! from Ian Fleming"; together with 11 typed copy sheets from Anderson, mostly letters to Fleming's secretary Beryl Griffie-Williams, with secretarial annotations. Margaret Anderson has signed her name above Fleming's inscription, adding "finished 5/5/1962", most likely referring to the date she finished typing the present work; she has also made… Read More

The Daily Express, 1957-1963. Together 26 issues. From Russia, With Love, 12 issues; On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 9 issues (of 10); Murder Before Breakfast [From a View to a Kill], 5 issues. Each issue illustrated by Andrew Robb. Wanting first issue of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, supplied with a photocopy. A few issues stamped "First edition fudge" on first pages. Some wear to spines and extremities, strengthened in many places with tape, central folding crease and occasional spotting as expected. Overall a very attractive set. The first appearance in print of two Bond stories, together with the first serialisation of another in the Daily Express. The collection comprises the first appearances in print of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (first issue not included) and From a View to a Kill, the latter published here under the alternative title Murder Before Breakfast, together with the first complete serial publication of From Russia, With Love, the opening paragraphs of which were previously… Read More

Jonathan Cape, 1953. Octavo. Original black boards, spine lettered in red, red heart device on front cover. With dust jacket. Housed in a custom blue quarter morocco solander box. Edges foxed, sporadically affecting margins, contents clean. A very good copy in like, gently foxed jacket, not price-clipped, couple of nicks and short closed tears, a bright and sharp example. First edition, second impression, presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "To Tanis and Teddy Read and burn! from The Author. Aoüt 1953". The married couple Tanis and Teddy resided with the Flemings at their Goldeneye estate the following year for, in Ann Fleming's words, "twelve interminable days" (quoted in Lycett). The endless flirting between Tanis Eva Bulkeley Guinness (1908-1993) and Charles "Teddy" Edward Harold John Phillips (1907-2006) proved to be a nuisance to Ian Fleming; in early 1954, attempting to write Moonraker (1955), his concentration was frequently… Read More

Jonathan Cape, 1961. First edition, first impression, presentation copy. Octavo. Original dark grey boards, spine lettered in gilt, skeletal hand motif blocked on the front cover in blind (Gilbert's A binding). With first issue dust jacket (priced at 15s.) Head and foot of spine very slightly bumped; a fine copy. Minor stain to a small portion of the front panel, short closed tear to the foot of the rear panel, extremities very slightly rubbed; else a near-fine and bright jacket. Inscribed by the author "To Noël, In exchange for the copy of P & C he didn't send me! With love Ian" on the front free endpaper. The inscription refers to Noël 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… Read More

Jonathan Cape, 1959]. Artwork measuring 406 x 508 mm. Matted within mountboard measuring 571 x 660 mm. In fine condition. Richard Chopping's personal, signed copy of the final proof sheet artwork, being the glorious full-sized image taken from the original painting, before the spine lettering and publisher's imprint were added (although the spine panel is still illustrated here). The image was then scaled down to produce the dust jackets. This item was originally sold in the 1980s by Richard Chopping himself. Richard Wasey Chopping (1917-2008) was a British illustrator and author, painting in the trompe l'oeil style to create a realistic and almost three-dimensional appearance. Among his illustrations are nine iconic covers for the James Bond books by Ian Fleming, published between 1957 and 1966, and the cover of John Gardner's first Bond continuation novel, Licence Renewed (1981). Chopping was born in Colchester, Essex and educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk. He lived in the historic village… Read More

Jonathan Cape, 1963. Octavo. Original green wrappers with the publisher's device repeated in white, spine and front wrapper lettered in black, half-title present (omitted from some proof copies). Housed in a custom grey cloth box. Slightly rubbed at extremities, some minor staining, minor creasing to spine, some folds to corners; a very good copy. Uncorrected proof and one of two author-corrected proofs of Thrilling Cities. This proof is the earlier of two proof variants; thinner and bound without the suite of plates, it was retained by the publisher. The other author-corrected copy was kept by Fleming and subsequently acquired by the Lilly Library, Indiana University, together with the author's manuscripts. This copy, previously in the collection of Jonathan Cape director Tom Maschler, includes the author's own corrections and annotations throughout in blue ink. The upper cover is boldly marked "author's proof please return". Corrections range from grammatical adjustments to line changes, as well as… Read More

Kemsley House [Privately Published], [1947-8]. Small booklet (binding 133 x 95 mm; leaves 126 x 76 mm) comprising 64 ring-bound leaves and black card free endpapers, all in a pigskin binder, front cover lettered in gilt "Ian Fleming". Housed in a custom black cloth box. Coloured map ("Kemsley Newspapers Publishing Centres") on p. 99. Corners very slightly rubbed, minor tears to punched holes; a near near-fine copy. First and only edition. This is an exceptional association item comprising the author's copy of a handbook for journalists, devised by Ian Fleming as Foreign Manager of Kemsley Newspapers. As stated by Gilbert "this title represents Fleming's first book". This significant rarity first came to light when Fleming's substantial collection was transferred to the Lilly Library and the librarian, David Randall, identified it as Fleming's first book in 1972 (see The Book Collector). Randall stated that in the Lilly Library copy, pages 11-20 were blank, but marked "In Course of Preparation".… Read More

London: Jonathan Cape, 1953. [Spy novel] FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. Octavo (20 x 13cm), pp.218; [2], blank. Publisher's black cloth-effect paper over boards with red titles and 'heart' design to upper, tail edge untrimmed, pictorial dust-wrapper priced at 10/6. Edges clean and fresh, no inscriptions, a few faint spots of foxing to endpapers and rear panel of jacket, shallow chip to crown and slightly larger loss to top edge else a decent example of the wrapper with no restoration whatsoever. Housed in a leather-spined cloth-covered clamshell box. Gilbert A1a (1.1).

London: Bloomsbury, 1997-2006. [Fantasy] ALL FIRST BRITISH SOFTCOVERS, FIRST PRINTINGS. Together seven volumes, octavos. Original harlequin/block colour illustrated covers. No owner names, some trivial handling and wear, slight sunning the second title; a near fine set, including the rare first book which is the true first edition (issued simultaneously with the hardcover).

London: Jonathan Cape, 1963. [Spy novel] FIRST EDITION, Binding 'A'. INSCRIBED ASSOCIATION COPY. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.288. Publisher's brown cloth-effect paper over boards with silver titles to spine, in the dust-jacket illustrated by Richard Chopping priced at 16s. With author's signed presentation inscription to the flyleaf; "To Aubrey / who wrote some of it! / From Ian". Some minor foxing, jacket gently used; very good or better copy. Housed in an elegant quarter black morocco clamshell. Aubrey Forshaw was asked by Fleming to read the proof of On Her Majesty's Secret Service and correct any errors, specifically those relating to cars. The inscription relates to the passages corrected by Forshaw, particularly regarding motoring matters. An outstanding presentation of the tenth James Bond novel. Provenance: Aubrey Forshaw, Managing Director of Pan Books, publisher of the James Bond novels in paperback. Gilbert A11a (1.1).