Introducing Books That Had Started Something, a signed & numbered paperback by Joel Silver, Director of the Lilly Library. Published by Queen Anne Press in a hand numbered edition of 125, signed by both Fergus and James Fleming (1944-2024), this is a must for any Fleming collector.
The bound pamphlet contains an authoritative and important description of how Fleming’s library of first editions, as well as his correspondence and the Bond manuscripts, was acquired by the Lilly Library at Bloomington University of Indiana. Joel Silver writes:
'Fleming's somewhat mercenary attitude to the collection (buy low with a view to selling high sometime in the future) may have disappointed Percy Muir, but Fleming knew his stuff. The collection, now residing in the Lilly Library of Indiana University, has become one of the most celebrated and valuable collections in the world.'
This originally featured in The Book Collector Volume 66 No. 1 March 2017, on the journal's 65th anniversary: an issue devoted to Ian Fleming’s role in the world of books. Bound in black softy card with letterpress paper cover labels, black felt wraps and 26pp text.
About The Book Collector. In 1952, the year he wrote Casino Royale, Ian Fleming launched a quarterly periodical for bibliophiles, The Book Collector, with John Hayward and Percy Muir. Published originally by Queen Anne Press it was soon hailed as the most important journal of its kind in the world. After Fleming’s death in 1964, followed a year later by that of its founding editor John Hayward (friend and muse of T.S. Eliot), it was owned and edited until 2016 by Nicolas Barker. Still flourishing today under the editorship of David Pearson, it is now owned by Tom and Fergus Fleming.
Made by. Queen Anne Press was founded in 1951 to publish limited editions by notable authors, and was managed in its early days by Ian Fleming. The company's manifesto today, continuing in the same tradition, is to produce good books by the best writers to the highest possible standard. It specialises in high-quality, one-off editions of a kind rarely found in mainstream publishing. Working in collaboration with Britain’s finest typographers, printers and binders the press uses traditional methods and materials to ensure that its books look and feel as good books should. They are volumes to treasure – stunning additions to any bookshelf.
