If you have an extra £475,000, you can buy this full set of first edition James Bond novels.
Got £475,000 to spare? Here’s a fun place to put your money, if you’re Gamestop-averse: a full set of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels is currently up for sale by rare-book dealer John Atkinson at John Atkinson Fine & Rare Books.
Ten of the fourteen of books bear inscriptions from Fleming to figures in his life. Casino Royale, the first in the 007 series, carries a dedication to Lisl Popper, Fleming’s lover: “Despite whose loving care this book was written.” The Spy Who Loved Me has an inscription to William Plomer, a friend of Fleming’s who encouraged him to start his writing career.
According to Atkinson, there are very few Fleming-inscribed books in the world: “[Fleming] knew the value of books when they were signed . . . I think it’s fair to say he only inscribed books to people he liked.” As such, Atkinson estimates there are fewer than ten sets like this one in existence—Atkinson took several years to assemble the one in question.
There’s also a bonus fifteenth book in this collection: an signed copy Birds of the West Indies, by James Bond—the real ornithologist James Bond, whose name Fleming lifted for his spy series. Because why not?
