Landmark Books in All Fields
ItemID: #121353
Cost: $2,000.00

You Only Live Twice

Ian Fleming

"IF ANYONE CAN BRING IT OFF, YOU CAN. CARE TO HAVE A TRY, JAMES?"

FLEMING, Ian. You Only Live Twice. (London): Jonathan Cape, (1964). Octavo, original dark gray paper boards, patterned endpapers, original dust jacket. $2000.

First edition, second state, of the 12th James Bond novel—the last published in Fleming's lifetime—set in Japan and featuring the further plots of veteran Bond villain Ernst Blofeld.

The third Bond adventure featuring Ernst Blofeld as villain "was set in Japan, a novelty for Bond, but one that reflected Fleming's visits in 1959 and 1962… Fleming worked hard to discover details of Japanese culture and society… [The novel] reflected Fleming's increasing melancholia, with Bond mirroring the author's moods" (Black, 60-61). The Japanese characters on the book's cover and dust jacket translate the book's title. You Only Live Twice was acknowledged by the press and readers alike as one of the best Bond novels. Made into the 1967 film of the same title with a screenplay by Roald Dahl, starring Sean Connery as Bond and Donald Pleasence as Blofeld. Second state, with "First published March 1964" on copyright page (the determining point), and with improved type; issued concurrently with the first state. Gilbert A12a (1.4). Biondi & Pickard, 49. Owner blindstamp on title page.

Book near-fine, with shallow marginal soiling to a few leaves and spine leaning slightly. Dust jacket bright and beautiful with a couple faint spots of foxing to rear panel and only slight toning to extremities. A most attractive copy.

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