City Basement Books Visit

I'm currently relaxing with a beer while waiting for friends at the Transport Bar at Fed Square in the City.  

Prior to arriving here I made a quick visit to City Basement Books on Flinders Street.  For a second I was concerned the book store could have closed as I hadn't visited since late 2019, prior to the Melbourne Covid lockdown which affected, and still affects, many businesses. Fortunately the "Open" sign was still displayed on the front door.

On entry and after descending down the stairs I was pleased to see the store was quite busy.  As I had limited time I immediately made my way to Fleming and then Gardner.  There were no Ian Fleming titles on the shelf but I did notice one Anthony Horowitz and three John Gardner's.  Sadly nothing new for me today but I'll return again soon.

John Gardner's "For Special Services"

Last November, Orion Books republished John Gardner's second James Bond novel "For Special Services" almost 40 years after it was first released.

Since its recent re-release I've been searching book stores for a copy of the novel.  I know I could easily order it online but I'd rather buy it from a bricks-and-mortar store.  And tonight I found a great copy at a QBD Books at Southland Shopping Centre.  Here's some photos.  I'll be scanning the cover and adding it to PizGloria.com as soon as possible.

Lego James Bond Aston Martin DB5 Completed

Last May I received a Lego James Bond Aston Martin DB5 as a birthday gift from some very generous friends.  I started construction in June at my parent's place... and then Melbourne went into a strict 110 day Covid lockdown and my car was trapped at their place.  In November the lockdown ended and I could finally rescue/continue building it.

My wife and I quickly completed Stage 3...

And then we finished Stages 4 and 5 in one sitting...

It's amazing.  So intricate and complex.  A working ejector seat, revolving number plates, hidden machine guns, opening doors, bonnet, boot, rear window bulletproof shield.  Wow... Wow... Wow !  Best Lego set ever.

"Never Say Never Again" Japanese Film Programme

Back in the 1980's my family used to spend two weeks every Summer camping at Wilsons Promontory National Park found at the southern-most point of Victoria here in Oz.  During the Summer of 1983/1984 I remember watching "Never Say Never Again" for the first time at the open-air cinema at "The Prom".  I disliked it simply because there was no gunbarrel opening nor the signature Bond theme.  But this is an "unofficial Bond film".

Over the years my view of "NSNA" has changed.  I know the film has its faults, especially the conclusion of the film with the gunfight scenes in the Tears of Allah cave and the underwater battle, but in my opinion Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera) proves to be a worthy adversary and it's great to see Sean Connery return to his most famous role for the last time. (I even like the film's theme song !)

So I now consider this film a guilty pleasure of mine and I've been hunting for a reasonably priced original film programme... which I found online in Japan a couple of weeks ago.  Last Friday it arrived in the mail and I couldn't be happier.  Here's some photos from the programme:

And finally a thank you note from the seller:

Part 2: More Jonathan Capes Arrive

After purchasing the copy of "Dr. No" mentioned in my previous post I also noticed another couple of Jonathan Cape hardbacks at reasonable prices, both from the same seller.  I quickly placed bids and won, and two days ago they arrived accompanied by a thankyou note from the seller.

The first was Ian Fleming's "Goldfinger".  This edition was published in 1963 and is a fifth impression.  I think Richard Chopping's skull dust jacket/wrapper for Ian Fleming's "Goldfinger" is brilliant.

The second was Ian Fleming's "You Only Live Twice".  This edition was published in April 1964 and is a second impression.  Again it has a lovely Richard Chopping dust jacket/wrapper.

I doubt I'll find many other reasonably priced Jonathan Cape - Ian Fleming hardbacks for sale any time soon.  The Coronavirus pandemic around the world has resulted in a huge increase in online sales by people trapped at home and these types of books are now demanding inflated prices, but I'll be keeping my eyes open anyway.

Part 1: Jonathan Cape "Dr. No" Arrives

A few weeks ago I noticed a nice hardback copy of Ian Fleming's "Dr. No" for sale on eBay.  Printed in the UK by Jonathan Cape, it's a sixth impression from 1964.  I rarely see these hardbacks at reasonable prices here in Oz with dust jackets/wrappers that aren't badly damaged.  A bid later and it was mine.  Sure the price increased by more than 100% from it's starting price but it was still less than AU$75 including postage.  Here's some pics:

More to follow...

Rosebud Vintage Bazaar

Yesterday my wife and I visited the Rosebud Vintage Bazaar which is just off Point Nepean Road on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.  It was pure luck finding this place as we didn't know it existed prior to noticing the sign at the front entrance.

Inside the large warehouse type building were many stalls containing hundreds of items for sale.  These included books, toys, clothes, knick-knacks, CD/DVD's and furniture.  

My wife and I scoured each stall for Bond related items and managed to find a hardback book club edition of John Gardner's "Licence Renewed" and three plastic Gilbert figures from the 1960's of Dr. No, Goldfinger and M.  The items were inexpensive however I decided not to buy them as I already had the book and didn't really need the figures.  I will definitely return though.

I Finally Visit The Frankston Book Exchange

The Frankston Book Exchange has long been on my list of second hand book stores to visit.  And today I was finally able to... eventually.

Once in Frankston I parked my car (containing my patient wife) and using Google map directions from my phone attempted to find the store.  I ended up walking two laps of a large block of shops before finding the shopping arcade that I needed.

I'd stupidly left my mask in the car so first had to ensure the owner I was covid-free before entering.  The store was larger than I expected containg many used books on a large range of categories.  

I had to ask the friendly owner where the Bond novels were and he pointed me to a couple of paperbacks and a Book Club hardback sans dust jacket.  He had lots of Fleming paperbacks a couple of weeks earlier but had transferred them to his brother's second hand book store in Pakenham.

Unfortunately no purchases for me today however now I know exactly where the store is I'll be sure to visit again.

On a side note I did happen to walk past Robinson's Book Shop in Frankston during my search today. 

I bought my very first brand new John Gardner - James Bond paperback from this store (when it used to be located near the Frankston Library) back in the early 1980's.  It was my go-to bookshop for James Bond novels back then.  Today I wasn't allowed to enter as I didn't have a mask.  Fair enough.

Here's a couple more photos I took while lost in Frankston:

Piz Gloria Website Celebrates 9th Birthday

Today is the ninth anniversary of the PizGloria.com website.  Despite only a few additions and changes in recent months I'm pleased that the website is still visited and referenced by book collectors and James Bond fans alike.

Some quick facts from Google Analytics about PizGloria.com over the last 9 years:

- There have been 40,925 visits

- Each visitor on average views 6.25 pages (that's 255,616 total page views over the years)

- The average time a visitor spends on the website is 3 minutes and 21 seconds

I'd like to say thankyou to everyone who has visited the website or been in touch with me over the 9 years, and I hope you visit again soon,

Cheers Baz

A Victim Of Lockdown ?

When lockdown ended in November it meant that I could finally return to bookstores again.  But on my first visit to Southland Shopping Centre in Cheltenham I was shocked to discover the Dymocks' store has been replaced by Cook & Young during my absence.

I'm not sure if the Dymocks' store was a victim of the lengthy Melbourne lockdown or a pre-planned closure but as one of the oldest book store chains in Australia I was saddened to see the store gone.  I'm uncertain at this stage if other Dymocks' stores have also been affected.  

Fortunately the store looks very similar inside with the same stock and layout.  So I'll be visiting again when new Bond novels are released or re-published

First Bookhunt After Melbourne Lockdown Ends

After more than 110 days confined to our homes, with nightly 8pm curfews and a 5km radius (and more recently 25km) outside of which we were not allowed to travel, Covid numbers have now subsided and we are free citizens again here in Melbourne.  Yep it was hard, and fortunately I had my wife by my side, but I'm very glad it's finally over and our second Coronavirus wave is now just a terrible memory.

Today I celebrated by going on a quick book hunt, my first in a long, long time.  First stop, Howard Bolton Bookseller where I was intent on spending some money as I know his bookshop had been closed for the entire lockdown.

There were no Bond books I needed today however I finally decided to purchase the copy of Ian Fleming's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", published by Macmillan in 2012, that's been sitting on his shelf for a while.  I have plenty of copies of this book but not this edition.  It was great to chat to Howard again and I was glad to see he had plenty of other customers too.

Next stop was Brown & Bunting Booksellers on High Street.  I parked my car on the busy road and walked one way, then the other, trying to find the store.  Sadly I learnt from The Book Grocer store nearby that Brown & Bunting Booksellers is online only now; a victim of no customers during the Covid lockdown and high rent.  Here's a photo of the store from my last visit in 2019.  This store always had plenty of good quality Bond paperbacks.

And here's a link to their new online business: https://www.brownandbunting.com.au  They currently have a number of more recently printed Ian Fleming paperbacks in stock.

A sad end to the day but at least I picked up one nice Fleming today, and it was great to be back in a physical book store again.

New Bond Paperback In My Collection

It's the AFL Grand Final long weekend and normally I'd be in Metung, Gippsland with my wife and sister-in-law on our annual getaway.  However true to 2020, nothing has panned out as expected.  The Grand Final is being played in Queensland, the first time ever this event has taken place outside of Victoria.  It's taking place in October when normally it's September.  And my sister-in-law is recovering from leukemia treatment in hospital.

So my wife and I are watching the game on TV at home and I'm writing this at the same time.  But it's not a "grannie" weekend without a post from me about James Bond.

Last week I received in the mail a copy of "Octopussy And The Living Daylights" published by Oxford Dominoes in 2018.

This edition is aimed at readers for whom English is their second language, and it's a great addition to the collection. I always like the original drawings in these ESL books.  Sometimes the drawings are a little dodgy, but the ones contained in this edition are pretty good.  Here's one of Bond in his Bentley.

Collecting these ESL books may not be for everyone, but I've certainly got a few now.  Here's some more from Oxford.  Fingers crossed Oxford Dominoes release more in this series.

Elusive Pan Cover

It's not a first.  It's not even a second.  But when I saw this "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" published by Pan Books in 1964, with blue/purple text on the cover, I felt compelled to buy it.

I already have a similar cover in my collection but that one proved so difficult to find the first time it's hard to go past the same cover again.

This copy was part of a lot of three Pan James Bond paperbacks, all with the Raymond Hawkey inspired covers, for sale online.  I first noticed them available around July/August.  When I saw the same lot again over the weekend I thought "that"s long enough for someone else to have purchased them" so I negotitated with the seller to just purchase this one title... and voila.

I'm still looking for an elusive 1st edition of this paperback title, but this 3rd is still a great find and a quite scarce cover that one day may help me eventually trade up to a 1st.