On 18 March 1959 Fleming had written to Richard Chopping about the cover he had undertaken for Goldfinger, saying that: “The new jacket is quite as big a success as the first one and I do think [Jonathan] Cape have made a splendid job of it”. Once again, Chopping was asked to provide the cover…
Jack Barclay Bentley, the world’s oldest Bentley dealership, is hosting a free James Bond exhibition from 11-16 June in partnership with Peter Harrington Rare Books. The Mayfair dealership will play host to original Bond cars and visitors key objects from the genesis of the James Bond story. The first James Bond cars – from the…
Article by Matt Sherman Dear ALR readers, Mr. Fleming gave us the best possible travelogues, didn’t he? His exciting real-world details filled the spaces between the action scenes, making his Bond and other stories eminently readable. “That’s how it’s done,” to quote Bond author and expert John Cork. I’ve been reading Bond since age 9,…
This website just celebrated its 6th anniversary and for the last 4 years we have invited readers and contributors to the site, on an annual celebratory walk and party. This free event, is our way of saying thanks and on the 27th May 2019, Artistic Licence Renewed led it’s 4th Ian Fleming-James Bond Walking Tour of…
In A Spy Is Born, Jeremy Duns follows the trail of a largely forgotten writer through memoirs, newspaper archives, declassified M.I.5 files and dog-eared paperbacks to reveal the surprising literary roots of James Bond. His name? Dennis Wheatley. We asked Jeremy to share more of his intelligence. 001. You wrote about the links between Fleming…
We’re giving away 2 copies of SHAKEN for the perfect Father’s day gift by answering this question: Kina Lillet was the vermouth used in the Vespa Martini, but in Diamonds Are Forever the Vermouth was a different brand, that Bond said was the ‘best vermouth I ever tasted.’ What was it? Terms & Conditions: This…
In the wake of the announcement of Bond 25 at Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye retreat where the 007 books were written, it seems appropriate to revisit the road to Bond 25 and the roots of Fleming’s writing which remain in the films. This history is contained in the paperback of Matthew Field’s and Ajay Chowdhury’s “Some…
We all know how Bond likes to clean out Casinos, but was Ian Fleming any good and what kind of gambler was he? In Casino Royale, Fleming pontificates on the role of luck in gambling: “Luck was a servant and not a master. Luck had to be accepted with a shrug or taken advantage of…
Article by Graham M. Thomas According to Robert Harling, the main topic of conversation when he first met Ian Fleming at a party in 1939 was typography; Fleming mentioned that he subscribed to Typography, a magazine that Harling edited. ‘I’ve been a subscriber to your magazine with its singular title from its very first number,’…
One of the rarest pieces of Fleming literature is possibly Ian Fleming’s 128-page scrapbook, in which he wrote down ideas, plot outlines, short sentences and even lengthy excerpts which he considered to feature in future Bond adventures. The scrapbook was never published officially, the known excerpts were jotted down by a reporter of the Daily…
One of the most striking props in any Bond film was the Faberge egg that Roger Moore pursues in the film Octopussy. The Egg seen in the film ‘Octopussy’ is, in fact, a hybrid of the Imperial Coronation Coach Egg, made in 1897. However, the plot idea for the Fabergé auction originates from Ian Fleming’s…
They say never judge a book by its cover, but book covers do a much of the heavy lifting to help to sell a book. None more so than Richard ‘Dicky’ Chopping’s iconic artwork for Ian Fleming’s Bond novels. His first commission for them was From Russia With Love and up until then, the previous covers…
By Raymond Benson Peter Janson-Smith passed away on Friday, April 15, 2016, at the age of 93. He was a giant in the world of British publishing, a major figure in that arena for nearly seventy years. Serious James Bond fans will know him as Ian Fleming’s literary agent, the man who spearheaded the exploitation…
Edinburgh Spy Week is in its sixth year of celebrating spy fiction, film and history. This year a Bond theme runs throughout the week (5th to 12th April), so three of the Spy Week team, Simon Cooke, Penny Fielding and David Sorfa, sat down to talk about Casino Royale. 001. Casino Royale was a new kind…
To celebrate the anniversary of the publication of You Only Live Twice, we take a closer look at Fleming, Bond and Sean Connery’s experiences in Tokyo. Article by Graham Thomas Fleming came to Tokyo in 1959 and 1962, Bond arrived in 1963 or maybe early 1964, and Connery in 1966. In the early 1960s about…
Diamonds really are forever! Today Lexington Books published “The Many Facets of Diamonds Are Forever.” Edited by Florida Atlantic University professor of English Oliver Buckton, and featuring ten original essays written by established scholars, bloggers, and new emerging critics, the book is the first to examine every aspect of Ian Fleming’s fourth James Bond novel…
The Folio Society has released THUNDERBALL the Double-O-Seventh in the series of Bond novels with illustrations by Fay Dalton. Thunderball is the Bond that has everything: exotic locations, super villains, thrills, double-crosses and Bond at his sharpest and most capable. It introduces one of Ian Fleming’s greatest villains – the nefarious Blofeld – and one of his…
We have two more calls for papers for the annual SAMLA conference between November 15-17, 2019 in Atlanta. Please send 250-word proposals, brief bios, and A/V requirements to Oliver Buckton (obuckton@fau.edu) and Matt Sherman (baconbond@gmail.com) by May 15th, 2019. James Bond as Popular Icon: Goldfinger at 60 (and 55) Goldfinger—the seventh James Bond novel by…
This week we welcome one of the youngest Bond experts on the planet, who has brought his own fan’s eye view to the page in his new book ‘James Bond: Behind the Tuxedo’. Originally from Spain, it was a serendipitous encounter in London that started it all. 001. How and when did you begin your…
Article by David Salter Ian Fleming, like his alter ego James Bond was a Londoner. Born here in 1908, he lived and worked here all his life, until his death in 1964. This long attachment was broken up by his schooldays at Eton, childhood days at the family home, Joyce Grove in Oxfordshire, his time…
Artistic Licence Renewed 