Great Pan Director Series

When I first starting collecting James Bond novels it wasn't easy to find out the names of each book series.  There was no internet nor Ian Fleming Bibliography for reference.  So series titles were either little known or perhaps even untitled.  Now Bond series titles like "Still Life", "Raymond Hawkey" or "Girls On Guns" are well known to collectors.

One series whose title I was unclear about for many years was published by Great Pan in the early 1960's.  The series had "painted" covers and featured an impression of James Bond (pre Sean Connery era) at the base of each cover holding a gun.  That figure was based on Ralph Vernon-Hunt who worked for Pan at the time.

There were seven Ian Fleming titles released in this series.  Click here to see them all.  When I was first collecting this series it took me years to find the copy of "Moonraker" shown.  I'm not sure why but this was definitely the hardest title to find in this series.  When I created the PizGloria.com website I had no idea what this series was titled, so I named it "Ralph Vernon-Hunt", but collectors (and experts like Jon Gilbert) now refer to it as the "Director" series.

As time's gone on I've seen less books featuring Mr. Vernon-Hunt in secondhand bookshops or for sale online.  They're definitely becoming scarce and those available often demand premium prices.  That's why when I saw this copy of "Live And Let Die" online for $10 the other day I had to snap it up.  Let's see if it's still possible to collect this series for a second time without paying a premium.

And finally, the excellent Pan Paperbacks website has further details on Mr. Vernon-Hunt.  Please click here to read more. 

The James Bond Collection Boxset

In 2019, Arcturus Publishing Group in the UK released a set of five Ian Fleming - James Bond titles for the Canadian market.  I managed to purchase these five books last year however the set also came with a slipcase which had evaded me.  A few weeks ago a friend of mine in New Zealand, John F, messaged saying he'd acquired a spare set of these books still in its slipcase and asked if I wanted to buy it from him.  The set arrived in the post a couple of weeks ago.

I'm still unclear on the logic behind the five titles included in the set as Ian Fleming's James Bond novels were published annually.  The original publication dates of these five novels are: 1953 ("Casino Royale"), 1954 ("Live And Let Die"), 1957 ("From Russia, With Love"), 1959 ("Goldfinger") and 1961 ("Thunderball") so as you can see they're pretty random titles.  Perhaps they were deemed the most iconic Bond titles, or perhaps the favourite five of the person who was asked to select them.  Who knows ?

But it's the slipcase I was really after, and it looks pretty cool.  Among the images there's even the silhouette of Daniel Craig from the "Casino Royale" film poster of 2006.

Here's a couple more photos of the boxset:

And finally, here's the ISBN for anyone else trying to hunt down this set: 9781789506624. Thanks again John, much appreciated.

Rainy Day Books Visit(s)

Three weeks ago, on the same weekend as my visit to Grant's Bookshop and Bound Words, I also visited Rainy Day Books in The Basin.  The owner, Meryll, recognised me immediately I entered the store and told me she had plenty of James Bond books available.

I hadn't visited Rainy Day Books in at least a year so it was good to catch up with Meryll and find out how she'd been doing.  Her store was fortunate to survive lockdown through online sales.

There were several Bond paperbacks on the shelves...

But the majority were in plastic containers near the front door.  They were part of her husband's extensive James Bond collection.  I started going through the titles and one paperback in particular drew my attention, a Triad Grafton edition of Ian Fleming's "Moonraker".  It was in excellent condition and I put it aside.

Another container held hardbacks and tarot cards released to accompany the film "Live And Let Die".  I took some photos of these and as it was so unusual to see a collection like this for sale in one store I suggested to Meryll she display them on a shelf to increase her chances of selling them.  

I was pushed for time (my wife was still sitting in the car outside) so I had to end my visit.  After half an hour of driving toward Cheltenham I realised I'd forgotten the copy of "Moonraker".  

Rainy Day Books - Day 2: Meryll's first words as I entered the store again were "You came to check up on me did you ?" and she pointed to the Fleming hardbacks she'd organised on the shelf.  They looked great.

I quickly found the copy of "Moonraker", paid for it and said my goodbyes again.  Two visits in one weekend was unusual after such a long absence.

Five Canadian Bond Novels Arrive

Ian Fleming's literary works entered the public domain in Canada in 2015.  In most countries this copyright exists until 2034, but in Canada it's possible to re-publish all of the James Bond novels without owing any royalties to the copyright owners.

To my knowledge only five Ian Fleming titles have been re-printed in Canada since 2015, and today I received copies of them, sourced by a fellow Bond book collector.  The titles are "Casino Royale", "Live And Let Die", "From Russia, With Love", "Goldfinger" and "Thunderball" and were published by Arcturus Publishing Group in 2019.

The covers are uniform in design and while the artist/designer is not credited I think they've done a pretty good job.  Hopefully the other nine will also be printed soon.

Ps. It's about time I had some new James Bond covers to add to www.PizGloria.com !

Mountains Of Books Bookfair 2019

It's a wet and cool Saturday morning on this unofficial Melbourne Cup long weekend and I'm sitting in my car near the Ferny Creek Hall in the Dandenong Ranges.  The rain is pelting on the roof as I write this, having just returned from checking out the many books available inside the hall where the Mountains Of Books Bookfair is being held for another year.

As usual Meryll from Rainy Day Books is present behind her book stall, along with many other familiar faces.

When I entered the hall earlier I made a bee-line for the book stall I've had success with in the past.  The stall holder even recognised me from my Jonathan Cape - Moonraker purchase last year.  He said he had no hardbacks this year but directed me to his pile of Ian Fleming paperbacks.

Leaving him I briefly spoke to Joy who was sitting in one corner of the hall making Christmas decorations from unwanted books and sheet music.  I was assured no Bond novels were harmed in the making of these particular decorations.

I then worked my way around the other tables.

One stall had several nice Ian Fleming - Pan paperbacks...

And after asking if it was ok to take these photos of them the stall holder pointed to some Ian Fleming - Jonathan Capes and Book Club Editions also on her stall, as well as a Robert Markham - Colonel Sun first edition.

Unfortunately no new novels for me today, but I did grab plenty of photos from the book fair.  Here's a couple more:

The Mountains Of Books Bookfair 2019 closes today at 4pm and begins again tomorrow at 10am.  Lots of books for sale on a variety of topics and categories, as well as all these Bond novels.  It's well worth a drive to the Dandenongs this weekend.