The Spy Who Loved Me
Price: $1,500.00
Hard Cover. London: Jonathan Cape, 1962. First Edition. Near Fine / Dust Jacket Included.
First edition, first impression. Publisher's dark gray/brown cloth, with dagger illustration centrally stamped to front board in blind and silver, spine lettered in silver, and red endpapers; in the original pictorial dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping, with an illustration to the front panel of a dagger pinning a charred slip of paper to a desk with a carnation resting on top, lettered in black. Near fine book, with light spotting to top edge of text block, very gentle lean to spine, and tiny nick to fore edge of text block. Overall, a handsome copy. Gilbert A10a (1.1). The Spy Who Loved Me is a unique Bond novel, written from the point of view of the main character, Vivienne Michel. Michel narrates the text, beginning with her troubled childhood, and, interestingly, Bond does not appear until well into the second half of the novel. The Spy Who Loved Me was an experiment for Fleming, who was "interested in this view of James Bond, through the wrong end of a telescope, so to speak." The novel was commercially unsuccessful, and, in response, Fleming asked Jonathan Cape to suppress any paperback editions, a request which the publisher honored during the author's lifetime. The subsequent 007 novel, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963), returned to the classic Bond story format, as it was set in the Picardy resort where readers had first encountered 007 in Casino Royale. The 1977 film adaptation of The Spy Who Loved Me bears almost no resemblance to this text other than the title. Item #IF242
