The Man with the Golden Gun
FLEMING, Ian.
The Man with the golden Gun. London, Jonathan Cape, 1965.
8vo, pp. 221; slightly foxed at fore-edge; else a fine copy in the original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, green patterned endpapers, in a near-fine jacket designed by Richard Chopping; one very small tear to head of rear cover without loss.
First edition, first impression, of the last Bond novel, published eight months after Fleming’s death, here with the binding in the second state, without the golden gun blocked to the upper cover (deemed too expensive after the first 900 copies).
Set in Jamaica, ‘the plot concerns Francisco Scaramanga and an assorted collection of hoods who plan to sabotage the island’s bauxite trade, deal arms to Castro, smuggle narcotics into America, and ruin the Jamaican sugar industry by setting the cane fields ablaze, thus increasing the value of Cuban sugar’ (Gilbert, p. 412).
This is Gilbert’s second state Binding B, with the bronze lettering to the spine as opposed to the pale white-gold seen in binding A.
Gilbert A13a (1.3)