Books

First edition, first impression. This copy is in a dust jacket with extra-wide flaps, produced for a trial run to check the layout and spacing of the jacket text before printing began in earnest. Such examples are rare and do not feature Jonathan Cape's usual decorative clip to the flap corners. You Only Live Twice was the last James Bond book published in Fleming's lifetime. Based on Japanese material which Fleming gathered during his five-week foreign jaunt for the Sunday Times, the novel is titled after a poem by Bashō: "You only live twice: Once when you are born, And once when you look death in the face" (p. 7). This copy is in the first state, the copyright page giving "First Published 1964" rather than "First Published March 1964". The film adaptation was released three years later, starring Sean Connery and with the screenplay written by Roald Dahl. Octavo. Original black boards (Gilbert's binding A), spine lettered in silver, Japanese lettering on front cover in gilt, patterned endpapers. With dust jacket. Johannesburg bookseller's ticket on front pastedown. Slight lean to spine; jacket bright, head and foot of front flap fold nicked, price and corners unclipped: a very good copy in near-fine jacket. Gilbert A12a (1.1).

In 'You Only Live Twice,' James Bond is devastated by the death of his wife and goes to Japan on what seems a diplomatic mission. He becomes involved with the mysterious 'Tiger' Tanaka and his plot to disrupt the Soviet intelligence network in Japan. Bond's revenge takes him on a dangerous quest after his nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.