Live and Let Buy! Auction of James Bond novels brings in £97,000 as first edition copy of Casino Royale smashes pre-sale estimate by attracting top bid of £55,000Ian Fleming’s debut novel yesterday smashed its pre-sale estimate of £18,000It was inscribed by Fleming and read: ‘Alastair, from the Author, Read & Burn’It was sold alongside Live and Let Die, Diamonds Are Forever and The Man with the Golden GunBy Daily Mail Reporter Published: 20:22 EDT, 9 October 2019 | Updated: 20:22 EDT, 9 October 2019 A first edition copy of 007 novel Casino Royale has fetched £55,000 at auction (stock image)A first edition copy of 007 novel Casino Royale has fetched £55,000 at auction.Ian Fleming’s debut novel yesterday smashed its pre-sale estimate of £18,000 – and went for the highest fee ever paid at auction for a copy of Casino Royale.It was sold alongside three other James Bond titles including Live and Let Die, Diamonds Are Forever and The Man with the Golden Gun, which collectively made £97,000.The copy of Casino Royale sold bore an inscription from Fleming, which read: ‘Alastair, from the Author, Read & Burn.’Book specialist Cathy Marsden of Edinburgh’s Lyon & Turnbull, where the auction was held, said first edition copies of the novel – let alone ones with an original dust jacket – are relatively rare.She added: ‘This is a great result with two Bond novels selling for large sums.’We had interest from around the world with bidders on the telephone, in the room and online.’ Ian Fleming wrote from his estate, called Goldeneye, in JamaicaNotably, the copy of Casino Royale is inscribed by Fleming, stating: ‘Alastair, from the Author, Read & Burn’.Casino Royale was published on April 13, 1953 – and sold out in the UK within a month. Fleming wrote from his estate, called Goldeneye, in Jamaica.Born in 1908, Fleming spent his early years at Eton, Berkshire, before moving to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, Surrey.In 1931 he joined Reuters but it was during World War II that Fleming began to gather his insider knowledge of secret operations as personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence at the Admiralty.In the decade after the war, more than 40 million copies of Bond’s adventures were sold – cementing James Bond as one of the 20th century’s greatest fictional works.
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First edition copy of Casino Royale smashes pre-sale estimate by attracting top bid of £55,000
