Family Life

04.08.10 | FL News Team

Bond, James Bond, is for sale. He's undercover and under the covers -- book covers, to be precise. Some 25 rare copies of 007 creator Ian Fleming's titles are up for auction this morning along with other valuable British spy stories and thrillers. The books come from the private collection of Otto Penzler, better known as the owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in lower Manhattan. Penzler has 60-thousand mystery titles on his shelves and he's putting a batch of the rare ones on the block. This auction's strictly for the stuff from across the pond.

 A first printing of Fleming's "Casino Royale" from 1953 is expected to fetch between 20-thousand and 30-thousand dollars at the Swann Auction Galleries in New York City. There's also a signed limited edition of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" that's estimated to get at least six grand at auction. Other authors whose first edition works are on the block today include John Le Carre [[ cah-RAY ]], Graham Greene, Len Deighton, Ken Follett. There are four copies of Frederick Forsyth's "The Day of the Jackal," including two signed copies. The auction starts at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the full catalog can be found at www.swanngalleries.com.