Thursday, April 13, 2023

Casino Royale Is 70 Today

Today is the seventieth anniversary of the release of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale novel - the book which first introduced the world to James Bond.

I planned to write about Casino Royale today because it is the second James Bond book I ever read. The first was a copy of Diamonds Are Forever which I stole obtained from a library at a Greek hotel I stayed at in 1986.

A few months after taking Diamonds Are Forever home with me, I stumbled upon a copy of Casino Royale at my local library. I took that one as well, but - fear not - I did not 'steal' it.

The book was being sold off, so I picked it up for - if I recall correctly - only a few pence.

Now, that was going to be the story considering it has been years since I read it. What I wanted to do was take a photograph of the book, but I realised it's in a box with other books because I've had to move the bookcase until a new carpet is put down in my home. 

I decided to take a look online for an image of the cover I have. I was blown away by the price that one website is looking to sell it for.

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

That is the exact cover I have for the book I bought for pennies in 1986 or '87.  The website - AbeBooks.co.uk - is looking to sell it for £2,267.44.

Mad!

A visit of eBay has been also surprising. 

There is one copy that currently has £102 in bids for it. The auction is set to close within half-an-hour of this post going up. 

I also see a couple with starting bids of about £605 and £536 respectively.

Mine isn't going to be worth close to those amounts because it's ex-library and I am sure has a South Glamorgan Libraries stamp (or more!) inside it. 

Still, I would bet that my copy is worth more than I paid for it back then.

Update: The eBay auction ended shortly after this post was published. The winning bid was £337.00.

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