Thunderball.

FLEMING, Ian. [Sean Connery].

Item Number: 127063

London: Jonathan Cape, 1964.

First edition, second printing of the ninth novel in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Association copy, inscribed by Sean Connery and three other members of the principal cast of the 1965 film adaptation on location in Nassau on the front pastedown and front free endpaper to “Miss Moneypenny” Lois Maxwell, “Cheers Penny and Thank you Sean Connery” [James Bond], “A ma chere Penny notre sourire a Nassau Claudine Auger” [Bond girl Dominetta Vitali (Domino)], “Cara Penny tu… il bene che tu meriti per la tua simpatia e amivizie Adolfo Celi” [villain Emilio Largo] and “To the best of all Good Pennys Naussau 1965 Rik Van Nutter” [Bond’s friend and fellow CIA operative Felix Leiter]. The recipient, Lois Maxwell, was best known for her portrayal of Miss Moneypenny in all of the first fourteen Eon-produced James Bond films including Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), and A View to a Kill (1985). Although she played a small part in most of the films (as secretary to M, Bond’s superior officer), her role was always highlighted by the underscored romantic tension between her and Bond. The present volume was inscribed to Maxwell on location in Nassau during the filming of Thunderball, where several scenes were shot, including the gambling scenes with Bond and Largo on Paradise Island and the scene on Thunderball Reef where Bond shares the point of his speargun with an uninvited guest. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Richard Chopping. A unique piece of Bond history.

"Thunderball represented a new departure [for the Bond series], with the introduction of SPECTRE and of Ernst Blofeld, a commanding villain who was to reappear. This gave a measure of continuity to the later Bond novels Thunderball worked well as an adventure story the theme of the theft of atom bombs seemed pertinent and modern" (Black, 49, 55). "A thriller, a chiller and a pleasure to read" (New York Times). It was adapted twice to the screen: under the present title in 1965 and as Never Say Never Again in 1983—each time starring Sean Connery.