Recent Pan Acquisitions

I recently visited a secondhand book store here in Melbourne and uncovered four out of five of these Pan editions from the 1960's.  

Apart from the "From Russia With Love" movie tie-in from 1963 the other covers are part of the Raymond Hawkey series.  Three of the books appear unread which is amazing for their age.  Their spines are immaculate.

The novel purchased online was the "For Your Eyes Only" shown below printed in 1966.  It's a rare 16th printing by Pan that used a much thicker paper stock causing the paperback to be fatter or thicker than normal.

As well as the spine size variation you can also notice the colour of the text on the spine is white which differs from the light blue on the regular copies.

The images on the front and rear covers are identical...

except the thicker version has an area showing pricing in red which is absent on this other copy.

This thicker version is difficult to find without an uncracked spine.  My copy also has some cover damage.  It's certainly not the best copy out there but it was within my budget.

Overall I was rapt with these purchases and can't wait to add images of this thicker version to the Less Common Books And Ephemera page on PizGloria.com.

The Spoils Of Adelaide

For anyone reading this blog you'll be pleased to know this is the last post from our recent trip to South Australia.

First here's what I call the "spoils" of our trip; the seven books I purchased.  I already have all of these titles but the covers here are either similar or an improvement on the condition of the existing copies in my collection.

The concentration on Ian Fleming's "Moonraker" was pure coincidence.  The Pan Books cover on the left is rare as it's the first and only printing with this cover from 1956.  The white Pan cover is a great copy.  

The orange Penguin "Casino Royale" was only published in Australia (along with a similar cover by Penguin for "From Russia With Love") so it's not common, especially outside of Oz.  The other two covers were too good condition to pass by.

Finally here's a Still Life series copy of Ian Fleming's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" from early 1970's.  There's no spine creases so I suspect it's never been read.  A paperback nearly 50 years old in this condition for sale at AU$14 is quite scarce so I couldn't pass it up.

That's the end of my Bond book purchases from South Australia, so now here's some photos from our travels:

On the road...

The blue lake, Mt Gambier, once a volcano crater

Umpherston Sinkhole (Balumbul), Mt Gambier.

Church and lake at a winery (Maggie Beer's) in the Barossa Valley.

A couple of beaches near McLaren Vale, some fisherman caves in the sand cliffs and a visit to a winery/craft beer brewery.

Random photos of the Pakistan and Indian T20 cricket teams who also stayed in our hotel for the Twenty20 International World Cup (eventually won by England).  One morning I even found myself in the lift with Virat Kohli who I'd watched on TV the night before scoring 50 runs.

Random photos taken while walking around Adelaide including Rundle Mall.

Chocolates bought while visiting the Haigh's factory.

Photos of the Adelaide Christmas Pageant.  I'd never heard of it before but it's obviously a big thing in Adelaide as it's been going for 90 years.

The journey home including a painted silo and a flooded river...

In conclusion, if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend visiting South Australia.  You may return with some great books but you'll definitely return with some great experiences and memories... the spoils of Adelaide.