Books

London: Jonathan Cape, 1954. London: Jonathan Cape, [1954]. First edition first issue of the second "James Bond" novel with the dust jacket showing price of "10s 6d net," with blurb for Live and Let Die on front flap, and without any credit for the jacket design and art. Small octavo (7 3/8 x 5 inches; 188 x 125 mm). 240 pp. Original black cloth-patterned paper over boards. Front cover stamped in gilt with Edward IV gold rose noble, spine stamped and lettered in gilt with Jonathan Cape logo in gilt at foot. Some very minor foxing to top edge of text block. Still. an excellent copy. In the extremely scarce first state dust jacket. One tiny quarter-inch closed split at bottom of front panel of jacket. Otherwise very bright and about fine. "The Live and Let Die dust jacket field is a bright maroon color. The original dust jacket artwork by Kenneth Lewis was produced in royal blue with yellow lettering. This coloring was discarded by the publishers in favor of the maroon during…

Live and Let Die is the second novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series of stories, and is set in London, the US and Jamaica. It was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1954. In the novel, Bond must defeat a dangerous drug lord with plans to finance Soviet espionage in America. The story was developed during Fleming's second stay in Jamaica, where he had extensive knowledge of the local scenery, wildlife, and underworld.