1st Edition James Bond, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, by Ian Fleming. Part of The ‘Blofeld’ Sequence. The Most Infamous Villain In The James Bond Canon. Written By Fleming at ‘Goldeneye’ Whilst Sean Connery Was Filming His First Bond, “Dr. No” Nearby

Part of another small collection of James Bond First Editions that just arrived

1st Edition, 1st impression. Published by London: Jonathan Cape. 1963 original cover. (1963) On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the tenth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 1 April 1963. The initial and secondary print runs sold out, with over 60,000 books sold in the first month. Fleming wrote the book in Jamaica whilst the first film in the Eon Productions series of films, Dr. No, was being filmed nearby.
With a delightful hand written birthday dedication dated April 1963, the same month this Ist edition, first impression was published, with its original Richard Chopping designed dust cover.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the second book in what is known as the "Blofeld trilogy", which begins with Thunderball and concluded with You Only Live Twice. The story centres on Bond's ongoing search to find Ernst Stavro Blofeld after the Thunderball incident; through contact with the College of Arms in London Bond finds Blofeld based in Switzerland. After meeting him and discovering his latest plans, Bond attacks the centre where he is based, although Blofeld escapes in the confusion. Bond meets and falls in love with Contessa Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo during the story. The pair marry at the end of the story but Blofeld kills Bond's wife, hours after the ceremony.

Fleming made a number of revelations about Bond's character within the book, including showing an emotional side that was not present in the previous stories. In common with Fleming's other Bond stories, he used the names and places of people he knew or had heard of and Blofeld's research station on Piz Gloria was based on Schloss Mittersill, which the Nazis had turned into a research establishment examining the Asiatic races.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service received broadly good reviews in the British and American press. The novel was adapted to run as a three-part story in Playboy in 1963 and then as a daily comic strip in the Daily Express newspaper in 1964–1965. In 1969 the novel was adapted as the sixth film in the Eon Productions James Bond film series and was the only film to star George Lazenby as Bond. On Her Majesty's Secret Service was written in Jamaica at Fleming's Goldeneye estate in January and February 1962, whilst the first Bond film, Dr. No was being filmed nearby. The first draft of the novel was 196 pages long and called The Belles of Hell. Fleming later changed the title after being told of a nineteenth-century sailing novel called On Her Majesty's Secret Service, seen by Fleming's friend Nicholas Henderson in Portobello Road Market.

As with his previous novels, Fleming used events from his past as elements in his novel. Whilst at Kitzbühel in the 1930s, Fleming's car, a Standard Tourer, had been struck by a train at a level crossing and he had been dragged fifty yards down the track. From that time on he had associated trains with death, which led to their use as a plot device not just in The Man with the Golden Gun, but also in Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, with Love.
To demonstrate just how much all things original Bond are appreciated in the world of collectors, the Walther pistol used by Connery in the poster of From Russia With Love, in 1963, and also drawn in the man With The Golden Gun is in fact just an air pistol. A .177 (4.5mm) Walther 'LP MOD.53' Air Pistol, Serial No. 054159. That pseudo pistol was sold by Christies in 2010, with an estimate of £15,000 to £20,000, but for an incredible £277,000. {We dropped out of the bidding at a mere £22,000} Incredible in that it was never used in any film, it was just an air pistol, not a real automatic, and only ever used in promotional posters. It was 'said' to have been used by accident in fact as they couldn't find a correct Walther.
A full set of 1st edition Ian Fleming's 14 James Bond novels published by Jonathan Cape between 1953-1966 could now cost in the region of £90,000. plus
Comprising of:
Casino Royale,
Live and Let Die,
Moonraker,
Diamonds are Forever,
From Russia with Love,
Dr No,
Goldfinger,
For Your Eyes Only,
Thunderball,
The Spy Who Loved Me,
On Her Majesty's Secret Service,
You Only Live Twice,
The Man with the Golden Gun
and
Octopussy and the Living Daylights {two storys in one volume}.


The dust jacket has a few small tears, but overall a jolly nice volume.

Out of interest, our last example of this super Ist edition James Bond, in around the same condition, we sold as a gift for an American megastar, who is now, apparently, the most famous and biggest selling movie actor in the world.

For those that have interest in World War II clandestine operations, we have acquired a small unique collection or original German badges personally collected by a former 30 AU commando, during clandestine raids, serving in Lt Commander Ian Flemings, so-called, “Red Indians”, of 30 assault commando.
Each superb iconic piece of history is for sale separately. Naturally, each piece comes with our usual certificate of authenticity, just as we have issued for all our pieces since after the war.

The partners of The Lanes Armoury have, for many decades, a very special interest in the clandestine forces of World War II, thus, offered and sold over the decades since the war, some of the most incredible artifacts of former SOE and OSS secret equipment and weaponry that you could ever find.

An interest that was likely formed as the current partner‘s father was an RAF bodyguard of Barnes Wallis, one of the greatest top-secret ‘boffins’ to have ever lived, the brains behind the dam-busters and so many other intriguing inventions for the RAF.
Also, the partner’s mother was a dear friend of former agent 365 of the Belgian Resistance, Countess Anita Vulliamy, who remarkably survived capture and torture by the Gestapo in WW2, and relocated to Hove after the war, and Mark, the elder partner, knew quite well a very famous spy, but for the ‘other side’, of Joe Stalin’s KGB, the ‘Cambridge Five Spy Ring’ recruiter. Of course it wasn’t until she had died that it was revealed to the public she was indeed one of the infamous World War II traitors and communist spy. Edith Tudor-Harte lived only a few hundred yards from the The Lanes Armoury gallery.

Code: 26283