Folio Society - Ian Fleming Special Editions

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  • edited March 2020 Posts: 2,887
    safe_image.php?d=AQDWgn70qhAjNiQX&w=540&h=282&url=https%3A%2F%2Fliterary007.files.wordpress.com%2F2020%2F03%2F003_swl_go-west-young-woman-final-2.jpg&cfs=1&upscale=1&fallback=news_d_placeholder_publisher&_nc_hash=AQANxpgyKIOpD2GG

    Whooooosh! Go Vivienne, go!
    How superb Dalton's illustrations are--they convey a period feel without being fustian, show attractive women without devolving into cheesecake, and their brushwork has the elegance of Fleming's prose. If I was a rich man I would commission her to extensively illustrate all the novels in the way that Sidney Paget illustrated the Sherlock Holmes stories.

    More images and details here and here.

    "The Folio Society has also reintroduced Ian Fleming’s original prologue, which had been removed from all modern editions of the text. In an unusual move by the author, this short introduction suggests that the manuscript had been left on his desk by Vivienne Michel, the book’s narrator."

    Excellent! The prologue was in the very first copy I bought and should be in every one. Besides showing Fleming at his most charming, it contextualizes the book, and confuses younger readers into thinking that Vivienne Michel really existed and wrote every bit as well as Ian Fleming!

    "The Spy Who Loved Me offers a fascinating look at the sexual politics of the early 1960s. At the time, Fleming was concerned to learn that his books were being read in schools and that children saw Bond as an unequivocal hero, rather than as an often ruthless and cold secret agent. It prompted him to write ‘a cautionary tale about Bond, to put the record straight in the minds particularly of younger readers’."

    And Fleming messed up, because TSWLM becomes a love letter to Bond from his creator, with Vivienne disregarding the police chief's warning as she rides away, still smitten with Bond. The confusions and rich stew of cross-gendered emotions in TSWLM make it one of the most fascinating Bond books.

  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,417
    Nice, I read about the prologue on the Folio website, @Revelator. Never read it, but heard of it. Excellent stuff.
  • Posts: 2,887
    Here's the text of the prologue:
    I found what follows lying on my desk one morning. As you will see, it appears to be the first-person story of a young woman, evidently beautiful and not unskilled in the arts of love. According to her story, she appears to have been involved, both perilously and romantically, with the same James Bond whose secret service exploits I myself have written from time to time. With the manuscript was a note signed "Vivienne Michel" assuring me that what she had written was "purest truth and from the depths of her heart". I was interested in this view of James Bond, through the wrong end of a telescope, so to speak, and after obtaining clearance for certain minor infringements of the Official Secrets Act I have much pleasure in sponsoring its publication.

    — Ian Fleming
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 12,914
    Revelator wrote: »
    safe_image.php?d=AQDWgn70qhAjNiQX&w=540&h=282&url=https%3A%2F%2Fliterary007.files.wordpress.com%2F2020%2F03%2F003_swl_go-west-young-woman-final-2.jpg&cfs=1&upscale=1&fallback=news_d_placeholder_publisher&_nc_hash=AQANxpgyKIOpD2GG

    Whooooosh! Go Vivienne, go!
    I was thinking Vespa. But seriously a nice edition and illustrations.
    vespalogo.png
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    Posts: 3,099
    I was thinking Vespa. But seriously a nice edition and illustrations.

    I've already had a small argument on Twitter with someone who reckoned it was a Lammie.
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,535
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 776
    Revelator wrote: »
    safe_image.php?d=AQDWgn70qhAjNiQX&w=540&h=282&url=https%3A%2F%2Fliterary007.files.wordpress.com%2F2020%2F03%2F003_swl_go-west-young-woman-final-2.jpg&cfs=1&upscale=1&fallback=news_d_placeholder_publisher&_nc_hash=AQANxpgyKIOpD2GG

    Whooooosh! Go Vivienne, go!
    I was thinking Vespa. But seriously a nice edition and illustrations.
    vespalogo.png

    It is a Vespa. Note the rectangular logo beneath the light.

    aa0afb3c588f9dfd35dcaa1783d6193b.jpg
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    ggl007 wrote: »

    giphy.webp
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,535
    00Agent wrote: »
    ggl007 wrote: »

    giphy.webp

    Don't worry. I just talk about the great quality of the book and its illustrations. A really nice gem to a Bond collection.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    ggl007 wrote: »
    00Agent wrote: »
    ggl007 wrote: »

    giphy.webp

    Don't worry. I just talk about the great quality of the book and its illustrations. A really nice gem to a Bond collection.

    Thanks @ggl007, and no worries, i still appreciate your work :-bd
  • edited March 2020 Posts: 520
    Revelator wrote: »

    Whooooosh! Go Vivienne, go!
    How superb Dalton's illustrations are--they convey a period feel without being fustian, show attractive women without devolving into cheesecake, and their brushwork has the elegance of Fleming's prose. If I was a rich man I would commission her to extensively illustrate all the novels in the way that Sidney Paget illustrated the Sherlock Holmes stories.


    "The Folio Society has also reintroduced Ian Fleming’s original prologue, which had been removed from all modern editions of the text. In an unusual move by the author, this short introduction suggests that the manuscript had been left on his desk by Vivienne Michel, the book’s narrator."

    Excellent! The prologue was in the very first copy I bought and should be in every one. Besides showing Fleming at his most charming, it contextualizes the book, and confuses younger readers into thinking that Vivienne Michel really existed and wrote every bit as well as Ian Fleming!

    "The Spy Who Loved Me offers a fascinating look at the sexual politics of the early 1960s. At the time, Fleming was concerned to learn that his books were being read in schools and that children saw Bond as an unequivocal hero, rather than as an often ruthless and cold secret agent. It prompted him to write ‘a cautionary tale about Bond, to put the record straight in the minds particularly of younger readers’."

    And Fleming messed up, because TSWLM becomes a love letter to Bond from his creator, with Vivienne disregarding the police chief's warning as she rides away, still smitten with Bond. The confusions and rich stew of cross-gendered emotions in TSWLM make it one of the most fascinating Bond books.


    What a superb appreciation of this edition by the great ‘Revelator’.

    The Pussy agrees completely with him regarding his appreciation of Dalton’s illustrations. Her brushwork does indeed have the elegance of Fleming’s prose. What a great way to describe it. Fay Dalton is a fabulous artist and it is her work that make these editions so collectible.

    Why ‘Folio’ don’t do a selection of prints for aficionados to buy has PussyNoMore scratching his well coiffured head ?

    Regarding the novel itself, the premise that Fleming wrote it because he was in some way disturbed that his books were being read in schools is preposterous. PussyNoMore knows that this was part of his PR release at the time but in reality he was revelling in the notoriety of his work amongst the young.

    Indeed, if that had indeed been the case, he certainly wouldn’t have responded to the issue by writing his most sexually explicit novel !

    If this work had anything to do with the young, it was probably Fleming thinking ‘I know they are reading Bond under the bed sheets and headmasters hate it. Now I’ll really give them something to worry about ......’

    All deeply ironic for PussyNoMore because this was the book that got him into deep doodoo at his school.

    The funny thing about the novel is that it really stands the test of time.

    It was a brave departure from his tried and tested format. He writes in the first person and as a woman beautifully. And he completely captures the zeitgeist of the early ‘60s and the emerging modernism of that time.

    In PussyNoMore’s not so humble opinion the work was part of a continuing love affair with America and was his attempt to write a ‘noir’ in the style of ‘Key Lago’ and he succeeds beautifully.

    Panned by many critics ( notably not the female ones ), this is the book Fleming tried to bury. Happily he failed and this new, beautiful edition is a great way to discover or re-discover it.



  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,417
    I should imagine we'll be getting a glimpse of the new Folio edition - OHMSS, surely - in time for Christmas, no?
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    royale65 wrote: »
    I should imagine we'll be getting a glimpse of the new Folio edition - OHMSS, surely - in time for Christmas, no?

    Mid October is the release window for their winter collection, of which the next Fleming book will certainly be a part of. So i'm guessing maybe the 21st October.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,417
    00Agent wrote: »
    royale65 wrote: »
    I should imagine we'll be getting a glimpse of the new Folio edition - OHMSS, surely - in time for Christmas, no?

    Mid October is the release window for their winter collection, of which the next Fleming book will certainly be a part of. So i'm guessing maybe the 21st October.

    Ta for the information!
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 754
    It’s either OHMSS or FYEO... excited for either one.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,417
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    It’s either OHMSS or FYEO... excited for either one.

    If it is FYEO will Fay Dalton have five illustrations for each of the short stories, I wonder?
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    royale65 wrote: »
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    It’s either OHMSS or FYEO... excited for either one.

    If it is FYEO will Fay Dalton have five illustrations for each of the short stories, I wonder?

    Unlikely as that would literally take her a couple of years. My best guess would be 2 illustrations per story.
    But i have a feeling they will release OHMSS first, but that i just a guess. I think FYEO and OP will be released last, maybe with one year in between because of the extra time needed for them.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,417
    00Agent wrote: »
    royale65 wrote: »
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    It’s either OHMSS or FYEO... excited for either one.

    If it is FYEO will Fay Dalton have five illustrations for each of the short stories, I wonder?

    Unlikely as that would literally take her a couple of years. My best guess would be 2 illustrations per story.
    But i have a feeling they will release OHMSS first, but that i just a guess. I think FYEO and OP will be released last, maybe with one year in between because of the extra time needed for them.

    Woops, that was badly worded on my part. I meant 1 illustration per story.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    royale65 wrote: »
    00Agent wrote: »
    royale65 wrote: »
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    It’s either OHMSS or FYEO... excited for either one.

    If it is FYEO will Fay Dalton have five illustrations for each of the short stories, I wonder?

    Unlikely as that would literally take her a couple of years. My best guess would be 2 illustrations per story.
    But i have a feeling they will release OHMSS first, but that i just a guess. I think FYEO and OP will be released last, maybe with one year in between because of the extra time needed for them.

    Woops, that was badly worded on my part. I meant 1 illustration per story.

    Haha i did wonder about that.

    Yeah one Illustration per story is realistic, but if they charge the same price i would prefer 6 as always.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 754
    We need to get a countdown going.... just a few weeks away. We may or may not get NTTD in Nov, but we should get a Folio Fleming in Oct!
  • Posts: 1,165
    Fingers crossed it’ll be Majesty’s!
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 754
    Folios Autumn collection was announced and no new Bond.... should have known, it’s 2020 and everything sucks. I called just to verify and they did say no new Bond.

    Guess we have to wait and hope it’s in the Winter collection.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    edited September 2020 Posts: 5,185
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    Folios Autumn collection was announced and no new Bond.... should have known, it’s 2020 and everything sucks. I called just to verify and they did say no new Bond.

    Guess we have to wait and hope it’s in the Winter collection.

    There was never a Bond in the autumn collection (September) there was always a Bond in the Winter collection (October).
    I know its confusing because they are so close together but it's the same thing every year.

    Just wait a couple more weeks till mid October and it will come. I'm sure the book was done before the pandemic.
    Though i would worry a bit about the next one in march. Not sure if Dalton had to take a break.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 754
    Oh that is confusing, but thank you for clarifying. I will keep hope alive.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    Oh that is confusing, but thank you for clarifying. I will keep hope alive.

    No worries, i fell for it too once, and then figured out what the hell Folio was doing in regards to their release schedule.

    I don't think there is any reason to worry and i'm pretty sure we will get a new edition in October, i'm taking an educated guess and will say 21st.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    edited October 2020 Posts: 5,185
    a week sooner than I though.



    I wonder what it will be.
    Does Anyone have a clue?
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 754
    Fifth from the top... it has to be either FYEO or OHMSS. Given the new movies have Spectre and Blofeld you think they would attempt some tie in for media sake, but I don’t think they’ve capitalized on that in past... not the way they’ve done with Dune or Game of Thrones.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    edited October 2020 Posts: 4,417
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    Fifth from the top... it has to be either FYEO or OHMSS. Given the new movies have Spectre and Blofeld you think they would attempt some tie in for media sake, but I don’t think they’ve capitalized on that in past... not the way they’ve done with Dune or Game of Thrones.

    Surely OHMSS, no? It's the Christmas Bond novel after all! ;)
  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    edited October 2020 Posts: 2,426
    I agree 5th from the top, too thick for TMWTGG, makes no sense to release YOLT before OHMSS and I reckon OP and FYEO will be last. My money's on OHMSS as well.
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,535
    Christmas is coming...
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