*****
Live and Let Die (1954)
“There are moments of great
luxury in the life of a secret agent. There are assignments on which he is
required to act the part of a very rich man; occasions when he takes refuge in
good living to efface the memory of danger and the shadow of death; and times
when, as was now the case, he is a guest in the territory of an allied Secret
Service.”
*****
Published
by Jonathan Cape Ltd., London
Printed
by Lowe and Brydone (Printers) Ltd., London, on paper made by John Dickinson
& Co.
Bound by A.W. Bain and Co. Ltd.,
London
Octavo; hardcover, with gilt
spine titling and an upper board decoration; 240pp. First edition dustwrapper
designed by Ian Fleming and executed by Kenneth Lewis.
Plot Synopsis:
Gold coins believed to have been
part of a pirate hoard amassed by Henry Morgan have been turning up in the
Harlem district of New York and also in Florida, and have been used to finance
various Cold War initiatives linked to S.M.E.R.S.H. British Military
Intelligence under M, traces these doubloons to a certain “Mr. Big”, aka.
Buonaparte Ignace Gallia, a voodoo practitioner and night-club owner. Bond is
sent to investigate him.
Teaming up with CIA operative
Felix Leiter, the two infiltrate a night-club owned by Gallia, but are soon
identified and captured. Gallia has the two assessed by his pet psychic Solitaire
(so-called because she eschews the company of men), who lies and announces the
spies to be no threat to the operation. Nevertheless, Gallia has one of Bond’s
fingers broken, in retaliation for which he later kills three of the villain’s
men; Leiter is released unharmed by virtue of being in the custody of a fellow
jazz enthusiast.
Solitaire later breaks with
Gallia and contacts Bond: together they head to St. Petersburg in Florida,
meeting up with Leiter once more. There, they scout one of Gallia’s warehouses
and, while doing so, Solitaire is kidnapped by Mr. Big’s minions. Bond departs
to track her down while Leiter goes back the warehouse once more: while there
he is captured and partially fed to a shark, losing an arm and a leg. He is
dumped for Bond to find at one of their safe houses with a note attached to him
that reads “he disagreed with something that ate him”. Bond attacks the
warehouse and determines that Gallia is smuggling the gold doubloons out by
burying them in the substrate of various fishtanks which he offers for sale:
the fish are all poisonous breeds to prevent any casual investigation of the
contents. Gallia’s henchman “The Robber” attacks Bond after this discovery –
Bond outwits him and feeds him to some sharks.
Bond then repairs to Jamaica to
where Gallia has fled and picks up the trail. He gets some quick instruction
about the mysteries of SCUBA diving from fisherman Quarrel and the head of the
local MI6 division John Strangways, and swims out to infiltrate Gallia’s yacht.
He is captured and reunited with Solitaire but not before he manages to attach
a limpet mine to Gallia’s hull. After starting to drag the couple across a reef
to inflame the appetites of the local sharks and barracuda, the mine detonates
and, while being rescued by Quarrel, they watch the yacht explode leaving
Gallia to be devoured by the very fish he threatened them with.
The Book:
Live and Let Die was
written by Fleming at his estate – Goldeneye – in Jamaica and was completed
before Casino Royale went to press. The plot draws heavily on Fleming’s
knowledge of Jamaica, and the United States generally, and informs much of the
action. It was originally a much more serious book entitled The Undertaker’s
Wind in reference to a local meteorological phenomenon in Jamaica known for
clearing away ‘bad influences’ from the island.
Casino Royale was
fairly well received by the critics and, on the strength of this, a larger
print run for the second book was commissioned. In this case and initial print
run of 7,500 copies was produced and quickly sold through, with, again, many
copies ending up in library collections. A second print run was undertaken
before the end of the year of release. The book was issued in the US in 1955 –
a year later – but sales were much slower. In the US, chapter five, which was
originally entitled “N______ Heaven”, was eventually retitled to
something less offensive and may well have been the cause for the initial
lacklustre sales. Sales across the board may not have justified continued
levels of production, however: the May 1956 third impression was restricted to
only 999 units and, consequently, copies of this release are more highly
sought-after than the first impression.
The binding of this book is a
solid black cloth-effect hardcover with gilt spine titling: the title is
printed horizontally at the top, Fleming’s name is printed horizontally beneath
this, separated by a four-square dingus; the publisher’s logo is at the spine
heel. The upper board displays an image of a gold doubloon in gold, referencing
the pirate treasure at the heart of the book’s mystery. The format is octavo,
roughly 171mm x 129mm, and there are 240pp., without decorative endpapers or
adverts. The title page has the publisher’s logo in the centre just below the
author’s name. This format remained in production (with the necessary
adjustments to the publication details page and lists of other books by Fleming
facing the title page) for the entire run of the hardcover release.
The Dustwrapper:
Having turned his hand to the
design of his first book, it was obviously thought that Fleming should follow
up that effort by designing the sequel. This is very similar to the dustwrapper
of Casino Royale, in that it relies exclusively on typography for its
appeal. The ‘wrapper is a vibrant fuchsia colour with gold lettering on the
upper panel: the letters of the title are blocky and cast heavy shadows, each
graced with a flowing leaf image. Below the title appears the author’s name and
the legend “author of CASINO ROYALE”. Although Fleming designed the cover, the
job of executing it was given to Kenneth Lewis: both are uncredited on the
first edition issue, but their design credit does appear on the ‘wrappers
thereafter. The lower panel of the first edition ‘wrapper, contains a list of
reviews of Casino Royale from the Times Literary Supplement and
other lofty organs, with the title of the book in the same purple colour of the
front panel.
Like Casino Royale, some
or all of the corners of the dustwrapper are clipped: this was done, I presume,
to make the book seem less asymmetrical if the purchaser clipped the price off
the front flap when gifting the book to another. A true, un-price-clipped,
first edition, first state dustwrapper of this book clearly shows the price –
“10s 6d net” - on the bottom corner of the front flap.
Pan Paperback releases:
Live and let Die – A James Bond Adventure
Published by Great Pan/Pan Books Ltd., London
First printing, 18th October 1957
Fifth printing, 1960
Great Pan
Books, No.GP83
Octavo;
paperback; 247pp. “Painted Pans” edition: cover by Rex Archer
Rex Archer seemed a better fit
for Bond after the Enid Blyton daubings of Roger Hall’s Casino efforts.
Here we see a properly brunette and seaweed-draped Bond – albeit with a weirdly
proportioned arm - dragging Solitaire from shark-infested waters while a yacht
explodes in the distance. This was Archer’s first stab at a Bond novel, and it
stood him in good stead for a repeat performance. This format remained
unchanged through the first five printings.
An interesting event took place
during the first printing (1957) of this initial paperback version. The
printery that took on the job of producing the first edition of the paperback
version, loaded the press with the wrong paper – more expensive, bulkier paper
which had been reserved for another job. Many copies of the text block were
printed (it’s theorised between 250 to 500) before the mistake was discovered.
Rather than pulp them all back down again, a decision was made to just
incorporate the thicker text blocks with the others and hope that no-one would
notice. Accordingly, they were all glued into wrappers, trimmed, and sent out
for distribution.
Of course, people did
notice. For starters, the expensive paper was less prone to browning, or
tanning, than the cheaper paper and, after awhile, the difference began to be
spotted by collectors and dealers. As well, the text blocks of the expensive
paper are thicker overall that the cheap ones, the difference being about half
a centimetre or more in variation. Some collectors began asking specifically
for the ‘thicker’ copies and they became a focus for those in the know. Anecdotally,
a bunch of these were sent overseas to the US markets, and there seem to be
more of them to be had over there. Regardless, the so-called “thick paper copies”
of Live and Let Die are much sought after and can command up to three or
four times the value of a standard copy.
Live and
Let Die – Harlem’s Prince of Darkness! A Satanic Foe for James Bond
Published
by Great Pan/Pan Books Ltd., London
Sixth
printing, October 1961;
Great Pan No.GP83.
Octavo; paperback; 247pp.
“Painted Pans” edition: cover by Pat Owen.
Promising as Rex Archer might
have been, he soon fell by the wayside in the face of Pat Owen and that
artist’s skill at capturing the zeitgeist and the tone of the novels. In
this version we see a bedraggled Solitaire clinging to Bond in his torn shirt,
while an exploding yacht forms the backdrop. Not much variation between the two
images but Owen’s captures the Sixties vibe far better. Again, we have the
banner crossing the bottom edge of the front cover and trying to highlight Bond
as a trademarked figure – this would change in the following releases. In fact,
it’s said that the image of the spy on the banner was taken from the managing
director of Pan Books at the time, who thought himself a bit of a player! As
usual, the price appears printed on UK copies of the book; export copies had no
price as they would be stickered appropriately when they hit their respective
markets.
Live and
Let Die – Harlem’s Prince of Darkness! A Satanic Foe for JAMES BOND
Published
by Great Pan/Pan Books Ltd., London
Seventh
printing, April 1962;
Eighth
printing, 1962.
Great Pan No.GP83.
Octavo; paperback; 247pp. “Painted
Pans” edition: cover by Pat Owen.
The front cover banner of Bond
got ditched fairly early and was replaced by a banner with an image of a
Walther PPK and three bullets, all against Bond’s call sign of “007”. The main
cover image of this printing retained Owen’s 1961 design; the eighth printing
was left unpriced, so that overseas vendors could sticker them at local rates.
Live and
Let Die – Harlem’s Prince of Darkness! A Satanic Foe for JAMES BOND
Published
by Pan Books Ltd., London
Ninth
printing, January 1963;
Eleventh
Printing, July 1963
Pan Books, No.X233
Octavo; paperback; 247pp.
“Painted Pans” edition: cover by Pat Owen
The launch of the “X series”
under the Pan Books imprint saw another printing, again with the cover art of
Pat Owen. These releases all had printed prices and clearly displayed the new
‘X’ numbering. The decision was probably taken after the
announcement that Raymond Hawkey would be coming in to revolutionise the
marketing of the material. This meant that text blocks on hand in storage would
not be reprinted, but new covers would be; until Hawkey’s new wrappers
had been designed, the old covers held sway, but with the new numbers.
Live and
let Die
Published
by Pan Books Ltd., London
Eleventh printing,
July 1963;
Twenty-first
Printing, 1966
Pan Books, No.X233
Octavo; paperback; 247pp. (+1
page of adverts). “Hawkey” edition: cover design by Raymond Hawkey
The “X series” was soon overtaken
by Ray Hawkey’s re-working of the entire franchise. These editions had the name
of James Bond emblazoned boldly at the top of the front cover, in an effort to
make the series stand out from the rest of the paperbacks at the stationery
stores. The covers in this range have a largely blank cover against which is
displayed an object that has relevance to the plot. Here we have a background
of untrammelled sand, emerging through which are the bones of a human hand
clutching a few gold coins. There is some overlap here – the first Hawkey
printing is referred to as the eleventh printing although that was supposedly
the last impression of the “X series”; this is because the new Hawkey covers
replaced the Pat Owen covers over the already-printed text blocks. The back
cover of this printing has the Cecil Beaton portrait of Fleming appended.
Live and
let Die
Published
by Pan Books Ltd., London
Twenty-second
Printing, August 1969
Pan Books, No.X233
Octavo; paperback; XXXpp. (+Xpp.
of adverts). “White Model” edition.
The “White Model” edition of this
novel is fairly by-the-numbers: a girl standing in front of a large golden coin
with a shark approaching from the background. I presume that the long black
robes being worn are a nod to the supernatural voodoo elements which the book
skates around but never really bites down hard upon. Like Casino Royale,
this book was printed only once in this format and so all copies have the
original monochrome Pan logo in the top left-hand corner of the front cover;
these printings also have the Horst Tappe portrait of Fleming on the back cover
along with an ISBN.
*****
NB: Because of the release of the
movie based on this title, there was no “Still Life” version of the book
produced by Pan. Instead, they went straight to a movie tie-in printing and
stayed with that version until a new issue became necessary.
*****
The Movie:
Released in 1973, “Live and
Let Die” saw Roger Moore take over the reins as the new portrayer of Bond.
Having played the Saint in various cinematic vehicles previously, it was
obviously decided that he could play a similar character in the ongoing
franchise.
The movie broke from the 1960s
aesthetic by playing broadly and for laughs – with extended car and other
vehicle chases, in the style of “Benny Hill” - under the guidance of
British director Guy Hamilton. Today the palpable racism doesn’t sit well
alongside the cornball humour and sexist pandering of the otherwise lacklustre
plot.
Movie Tie-in Releases:
Live and
Let Die
Published
by Pan Books Ltd., London
Twenty-third
printing, 1973;
Pan Books No.X232.
Octavo; paperback; 248pp. Robert
McGinnis, cover design.
In 1972, interest in the Bond
franchise was running high as Roger Moore was due to replace Sean Connery as
James Bond. Filming was conducted in the UK and the US across 1972, and stocks
of the novel were allowed to run down in the lead-up to a marketing push that
would include a release with a tie-in cover. The book was released in 1973 with
artwork taken from the movie poster by Robert McGinnis which accompanied the
screenings.
In the wake of the film’s success
and his winning of the ‘Bond crown’ Roger Moore was commissioned to write a
memoir of the events surrounding the filming of the movie and this became a
well-received addition to the hype-machine surrounding the novel and is much
sought-after by collectors nowadays.
“Roger Moore” (Derek Coyte; Luisa
Moore, illus.), Roger Moore as James Bond 007 - Roger Moore's account of
filming "Live and Let Die". Pan Books Ltd., London, 1973.
First printing: octavo;
paperback; 189pp. (+2pp. of adverts), with 8pp. of full-colour plates.
To be fair, Moore didn’t actually
write any of this; it was penned by Derek Coyte who was attached to EON
Productions as a publicity writer. Luisa Moore, Roger Moore’s wife, took the
lion’s share of the photographs and is probably the only Moore to have had a
hand in the effort.
Tarot Cards
While the supernatural themes of “Live
and Let Die” are largely underplayed, their presence meant that a set of
tarot cards were required as a prop to enable the character of Solitaire to
work her mojo. Initially the production company approached Salvador Dali to
create a deck for use in the movie; however, the $7 million fee he demanded
caused a re-think (in any event, he didn’t actually finish his card deck design
until 1986, so they were wise to pull the plug). The deck that was finally used
was “The Tarot of the Witches”, designed by Fergus Hall.
The deck used in the film
consisted of only 37 cards (whereas a complete deck has 78) because Hall hadn’t
finished designing all of them; the post-movie reprints consist of a full deck.
In 2022 a special edition release of the deck was issued with only the original
37 cards, the balance of the deck made up of 10 copies of The Lovers
card ( a reference to the point in the film where Bond upsets the deck to
reveal that it contains nothing but copies of this card), the Six of Wands,
the Knight of Wands, the Six of Swords, the Knight of Swords
and the Queen of Cups.
So pleased were the producers with
these cards that they re-designed the costumes of several of the characters in
the movie to accord more strongly with the tarot images, notably Geoffrey
Holder’s depiction as Baron Samedi, or Death. The sets of cards created for the
film had a red design on their reverse sides; later promotional decks sold in
the wake of the movie’s release had a repeated blue pattern featuring Bond’s
“007” call sign. Reprints in later years remove the Bond branding for a more
general pattern.
The Theme Song
"I read it [the
book by Fleming] and thought it was pretty good. That afternoon I wrote the
song and went in the next week and did it... It was a job of work for me in a
way because writing a song around a title like that's not the easiest thing
going."
-Paul
McCartney
Saltzman and Broccoli approached
Paul McCartney to write a theme song for the movie while principal photography
was still running. Paul and Linda McCartney wrote the song, reuniting with
George Martin as producer for the first time since the break-up of the Beatles.
It became the first rock song to open a Bond movie and was nominated for an
Oscar for best theme song (losing out to Streisand’s “The Way We Were”)
at the 46th Academy Awards.
McCartney’s follow-up band Wings
released an album – “Band on the Run” – in the same year as the movie’s
release and toured to promote it; they performed the Bond title song,
accompanied by pyrotechnics, during their performances. The song hit the number
one spot in charts across the world and did much to promote the film.
In 1991, the rock band Guns
‘n’ Roses covered the song to moderate success. In retaliation to Trump’s
use of the cover during one of his rallies in the middle of the COVID crisis,
G’n’R created a T-shirt that read “Live ‘n’ Let Die with COVID 45”, the
proceeds from the sales of which went to help musicians struggling due to the
pandemic lockdowns.
*****
“There was open sensuality in Solitaire's eyes as
she looked up at him. She smiled innocently.
'What about my
back?' she said”
