The Man With The Golden Gun. by Fleming, Ian - 1965

London: Jonathan Cape, 1965. First edition, first state with the golden gun embossed on the front board. Octavo, original black boards, green patterned endpapers. The publisher set out to publish the embossed gun but the cost proved prohibitive to continue, so the gilt-stamping was ceased, and the remaining copies were published with plain front boards. "This issue with the golden gun on the casing is the rarest, by far, of the Bond books. There are certainly fewer than the 290-odd of the signed limited edition of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The Cape archives do not reveal how many copies were produced with the golden gun stamping. Copies tend to turn up most frequently in the extremities of the British Commonwealth, e.g., South Africa, Kenya, Australia and New Zealand" (Biondi & Pickard, 50). "Publication day would be the same throughout the British Commonwealth and stock would need to arrive in good time to meet this date. The books were sent from the UK via container ship (a 'slow boat') as air transport was expensive, and those nations furthest afield would be sent the earliest available copies (which, of course, meant the 'Golden Gun' bindings) at the first opportunity, to ensure a simultaneous publication as intended" (Gilbert, p. 418). Gilbert A13a (1.1). An excellent near fine example with the gilt bright, a small contemporary name to the front pastedown in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of rubbing. A very bright example of the rare first state binding. Made into the 1975 film of the same title starring Roger Moore as Bond, with an all-star cast which included Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams and Hervé Villachaize.