Birds West Indies by James Bond, First Edition (26 results)

Cloth. Condition: Very Good +. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. A solid copy of the 1961 stated 1st American edition. Solid and VG+ (small, neat former owner name at the front free endpaper) in a crisp, price-intact ($6.00), VG dustjacket, with light soiling to the panels and several tiny closed tears along the upper edges. 12mo, "with colour illustrations by Don R. Eckleberry and line drawings by Earl L. Poole". The author who gave his name to the legendary "Bond" series.

Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Don R. Eckelberry; Earl L. Poole (illustrator). First Edition. First American edition. Green cloth covered boards with a clipped pictorial dustjacket. Spotting to cloth on covers (see image). Wear to jacket (see image), but otherwise no previous owners' names or other defacements. 5.25 x 7.75 in.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover with DJ. Green cloth with green lettering on spine. Green bird on the front cover. Binding good and tight. White DJ with color illustrations of birds; a bit dusty from age, but overall still good. Original price of $6.00 on the inside flap. Title page dated 1961. Stated first edition. 256 pages. Color plates. This copy has Tom Lovejoy's name signed on the back of the front free endpaper. A nice association copy of a classic field guide, made a crossover collectible because of the connection between Bond the ornithologist and Bond the fictional secret agent. This volume comes from the collection of Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, who was a passionate book collector as well as a renowned biologist. His collection recently came to auction near Washington DC, as we were fortunate to purchase a portion of it, which we're proud to offer here. Please email with questions or to request photos. If you see a photo beside this listing, please be aware that it s an ABE Stock Photo (whatever that is) and not a photo of this book. Oversized and overweight books will require extra shipping for safe delivery.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 1st Edition. clean, firm, mark free copy, light edge wear, unclipped dj with chipping, otherwise some rubbing and light foxing. BP/ locked cab.

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. Don R. Eckelberry; Earl L. Poole (illustrator). First American Edition. First printing. 256 pp. including index. The author is the namesake of the famous Ian Fleming character. The top corner of the text block is dampstained. The spine is slightly slanted. A few pages have brief penciled notes. The dust jacket is price-clipped. Chipped, scuffed and dampstained along the top edge. In Brodart archival dust jacket protector. Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

[Bondiana] FIRST EDITION. Quarto (29 x 20cm), pp.440. Illustrated with full-page captioned colour photographs throughout. Publisher's brown cloth in printed dust-jacket. A fine copy. From the comprehensive James Bond collection assembled by Jon Gilbert (with his pencilled ownership signature). His comprehensive guide to the works of Ian Fleming (2012) won the 16th Breslauer Prize for bibliography. An artistic photo essay, which was followed by 'Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies'. This first element of Simon's vast project is a photographic inventory of the women, weapons and vehicles of James Bond films made over the past fifty years. Rather aptly bound in homage to the original tome upon which this work took it's name, using a similar jacket design and typography to James Bond's bird-watching manual.

Condition: Good. 1947. First edition thus. 257 pages. No dust jacket. Brown cloth covered boards. Allegedly, Ian Fleming used the author's name to christen his most famous character. With a coloured plate and line drawings by Earl Poole. Pages remain clear with minimal tanning and foxing, mild to end-papers and text-block edges. Plates are bright and clear. Small bookshop plate to front end-paper. Occasional pencil crosses to margins. Cracking to gutters, no damage to end papers. Some occasional mild cracking to gutters throughout. Binding is still reasonably firm. Boards have moderate edge-wear with bumping to corners and rubbing to surfaces. Mild crushing to spine ends with fraying and a small split at the head. Moderate damp stain to rear. Some dust dulling to the front board long edge. Moderate tanning to spine. Book has a slight forward lean.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Cover. Eckelberry, Don R.; Poole, Earl L. (illustrator). First UK Edition. Very Good Hardcover, no dustjacket, first UK edition, color illustrations by Don R. Eckelberry and drawings by Earl L. Poole author , James Bond, was friend of and the inspiration for Ian Fleming's famous secret agent.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. First printing stated on copyright page-1947. Former owner name on front endpaper. Fine unmarked content.

[Ornithology] FIRST UK EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.256; [1], blank. With colour plate illustrations and line drawings. Publisher's red cloth titled and decorated in gilt to spine, cartographic endpapers, pictorial dust-jacket priced at 35s. A few related ink notes to half title else contents clean. Used jacket has some chips and tears, clear tape repairs, showing general wear. The acclaimed work by the ornithologist James Bond, whose name was famously appropriated for spy fiction's most celebrated hero. This British edition followed two earlier printings in America; Philadelphia (1936) and Macmillan, New York (1947).

Condition: Very good. 256, 8 col plates, 186 line drawings. . HB. Vg in edge-worn d/w (a couple of old, light tape marks; price-clipped; in clear, removable protective sleeve). Light spotting to fore-edge. Guide to the Species of Birds that Inhabit the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles & Bahama Islands. First UK edition (First published in the US, 1936 and 1947 (MacMillan)). A collectors item for James Bond fans. Ian Fleming, a keen birdwatcher, took inspiration for the name of his famous fictional spy, James Bond, from the author of this book.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 1st Edition. JAMES BOND - FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS OF THE WEST INDIES (although on the DJ the title is listed as "Field Guide Of Birds Of The West Indies"), published by Macmillan, copyright 1947, Stated First Printing (no reference to subsequent printings), map illustrated endpapers, brown cloth boards with black lettering to spine & front board, $3.75 price on DJ front flap. IAN FLEMING HAD THIS BOOK ON HIS SHELF AT HIS VACATION HOME "GOLDENEYE" IN JAMAICA AND USED THE AUTHOR'S NAME AS THE NAME FOR HIS FICTIONAL SPY - YOU SEE JAMES BOND HOLDING THIS BOOK IN "DIE ANOTHER DAY" WHILE VISITING CUBA POSING AS AN ORNITHOLOGIST. Book has no creased page corners, slight age darkening/dust soiling to outer page edges (no foxing), former ownership writing/highlighting throughout the book (original owner was clearly a serious bird watcher that took several trips to look for birds in the Carrebean) otherwise no used bookstore stamps/stickers inside, clean endpapers with no staining or scotch tape marks, no internal hinge splitting, no wear to board edges, corners or spine tips, no bumped board corners, no soiling/markings to boards, no wear to spine lettering. Dust Jacket has sliver loss at spine tips otherwise no chipping, tearing or creasing, wear to spine tips, slight wear to front flap crease (nick losses to flap crease corners), slight wear to left/right on spine, hint of edge wear, edges were reinforced by original owner (likely the owner had the book with him 'in the field' and thus reinforced all edges), no spine sun fading, no foxing to panels or spine, no soiling/staining to panels or spine, slight dust rubbing to the all-white rear panel (common defect with this DJ). Overall a VG- book in VG- condition dust jacket (not price clipped) of a Ian Fleming related 1st printing hardcover book. I have a number of other U.S. and U.K. Ian Fleming James Bond 1st printing hardcover appearances up for sale.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Bound in brown/rust cloth with black lettering. Spine is faded a half-tone lighter than the boards. Maps for endpapers. 257 pages. No DJ. Color frontispiece. Stated first printing. A guide to all the species of birds known from the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles and Bahama Islands. Line drawings by Earl Poole. The paper is ever-so-faintly toned from age, with a spot or two of foxing. Three pages were dog-eared, but have been unfolded now. Apart from being a very fine field guide, this title has the wonderful distinction of having been the major life work of James Bond, who lent his name to the British secret agent created by his good friend Ian Fleming. The book has been reprinted several times be several different publishers, a testament to its legitimacy as a field guide. This is the first edition, printed 6 years before the first 007 novel was published. Please email with questions or to request photos.

First Edition. FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS OF THE WEST INDIES, Macmillan, 1947, first edition, remants of small label and a stamped name to the upper right corner of the f.e.p., tape stains to the upper and lower margins of the verso of the half-title (which have become faint ghosts to the half-title page itself), else a vg+/near fine copy with dust-wrapper flaps laid in. Profusely illustrated. Bond was an ornithologist specializing in birds of the Caribbean and while living in Jamaica, met and befriended Ian Fleming, who like wise was an avid bird watcher. Fleming decided on Bond's name for the protagonist of his first book, "Casino Royale", and the rest is---you know---history!.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. Stated First American Edition. First Printing. Prior owner signature on ffep. Unclipped DJ in archival cover, slight edge wear.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Stated first printing of this scarce title, whose author was the inspiration for Ian Fleming when he named his famous secret agent. A fine copy, bright and clean inside and out. In a very good plus dust jacket (front flap clipped at top and bottom, but $3.75 price intact along top side edge as usual) with minor loss at spine ends and corners, and slight rubbing at the folds. A superior copy of a title that is rapidly becoming difficult to find in collectible condition.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 257pp. color frontispiece. 211 Black and White line drawings throughout. Map endpapers. A hint of edgewear and toning, otherwise a fine, unmarked copy. Price-clipped pictorial jacket is bright with minor color loss along the extremities. in mylar sleeve."Birds of the West Indies" was a book owned by novelist Ian Fleming, who used the ornithologist's name for his own fictional British secret agent character, Commander James Bond. Fleming, a keen bird watcher while living at his estate in Jamaica, owned this book. He later explained that the author's name was 'brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon, and yet very masculine just what I needed'. The book has since become a collector's item amongst Bond fans". Though the book states First Edition, the orgiinal edition came out in 1936. Size: Octavo.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First edition thus (originally published in 1936 as 'Birds of the West Indies' and substantially revised for this edition). Octavo, pp ix, [3], 257. Bound in brown cloth covered hard boards, black lettering to the spine and upper board; in the original dust jacket which has been clipped to both corners of the front flap (as usually found) and has a printed price of $3.75 to the upper corner. Endpaper maps, colour plate frontispiece, illustrated throughout with line drawings of birds. Neat previous owner's name to the half title dated 1951. A copy of this book was on Ian Fleming's shelves at Goldeneye in Jamaica when he began planning and writing Casino Royale and he lifted the author's name for his nascent British secret agent. Bond and Fleming met once only, at Goldeneye in 1964. Fine condition book in an almost Near Fine jacket which has some minor rubbing at the extremities.

Hardcover. Condition: Collectible-Good. No Jacket. First Edition. First edition, first printing in rough shape. The book is water damaged, with stains on the front cover. The edges of the pages, especially the bottom edge, are wavy from the same damp exposure. The pages at the front of the book are foxed and the page edges are age toned. There are small pencil notes scattered through the text (marking which birds a previous owner has seen). The rear hinge is cracked and the front hinge is weak. The covers are worn around the corners and at the head and base of the spine; the spine is a bit faded. No dust jacket.

First Macmillan edition, first printing; the edition that gave the world the name "James Bond". Ian Fleming, seeing his copy of this book at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica, took the author's name for his literary creation. An exhaustive handbook of more than 400 species of birds found throughout the Caribbean, the work was first published under the title Birds of the West Indies in 1936. Fleming had sketched out his character and was looking to name it when he spied this retitled and revised Macmillan edition on his bookshelves and saw the potential of the author's name, James Bond. Fleming later told Mrs Bond, "it struck me that this name, brief, unromantic and yet very masculine was just what I needed and so James Bond II was born" (Letters, p. 280). Fleming contacted James Bond for permission to use his name, to which Bond replied, "fine with it" (Buckland, p. 19), unaware that his name would thereby become synonymous across the world with one of the defining characters of 20th-century literature and of British popular culture. By way of recompense, Fleming offered Bond the opportunity to christen "some particularly horrible species of bird. Ian Fleming" (Letters, p. 280). Fleming and James Bond met only once, when the ornithologist and his wife attended lunch at Goldeneye in 1963. Fleming recorded that the Bonds were "a charming couple who are amused by the whole joke" (Pearson, p. 364). On the occasion, Fleming presented Bond with a copy of You Only Live Twice with the inscription, "To The real James Bond from the thief of his identity, Ian Fleming". In homage to Bond, in the 2002 film Die Another Day, Pierce Brosnan picks up a copy of the book in a Havana hotel, and takes cover as an ornithologist "just here for the birds". Damien Buckland, Collection Editions: James Bond, 2016; Fergus Fleming, ed., The Man with the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters, 2015; John Pearson, The Life of Ian Fleming, 1966. Octavo. Original brown cloth, spine and front cover lettered in black, map endpapers printed in brown. With dust jacket. Colour frontispiece by F. L. Jacques, half-tone photographic plate, and line drawings throughout the text by Alexander Seidel. Spine ends a little rumpled, contents mildly toned but clean; price-clipped jacket slightly rubbed with trivial tears to fold ends, rear panel and flap lightly toned, else bright: a near-fine copy in very good jacket.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. First American Edition. 456pp. color frontispiece. Map endpapers. Prev.owner ink inscription on the dedication page. The spine has been rebound in brown fabric with gilt lettering and ruling. Grayish blue boards are faded as well as the gilt lettering on the front panel. The corners of the panels are worn. The frontispiece has foxing, as well as significant foxing on a couple of index pages. Overall a serviceable copy of this extremely rare first edition. "Birds of the West Indies was a book owned by novelist Ian Fleming, who used the ornithologist's name for his own fictional British secret agent character, Commander James Bond. Fleming, a keen bird watcher while living at his estate in Jamaica, owned this book. He later explained that the author's name was 'brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon, and yet very masculine just what I needed'. The book has since become a collector's item amongst Bond fans" Size: Octavo.

Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Scarce. When looking for the name for the character who would go on to become the most iconic spy protagonist of all time, author Ian Fleming turned to his bookshelf. An avid birdwatcher, he owned a copy of Birds of the West Indies, and chose its author's name, James Bond, for its inconspicuous nature. This is the first edition and first printing of that book. Gray cloth over boards with gilt-stamped particulars to spine and front board. Illustrated endpapers with map of the West Indies. Gift inscription from noted herpetologist Thomas Barbour to fly, dated Jan. 14, 1936. Full-color frontispiece of Cuban Tody bird. Several stains to boards (see image). Absent dustjacket. 5.25 x 7.5 inches.

A first edition, first printing published by The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in 1936. A very good (or better) book with some wear to the spine tips and corners. Gilt titles are full and bright and the boards, so often battered, are in clean condition. One small name to the half-title. Some bumping to the top of the rear board and three small ink spots to the foot of the pages. One small name to the title page. Some neat pencil notes to the rear endpaper (which could be easily erased). A very presentable copy of a scarce book. Ian Fleming chose the name "James Bond" for his iconic spy character from a combination of sources. The name James Bond was inspired by an American ornithologist of the same name, whose book 'Birds of the West Indies', Fleming had on his bookshelf. The author thought the name sounded plain and unassuming, which he believed would provide a contrast to the exciting and glamorous life of his fictional spy. The last name "Bond" was reportedly chosen because it was short, strong, and typically associated with upper-class Englishmen. The combination created a memorable and somewhat ordinary name for a character who would become extraordinary in the world of espionage fiction.

A pair of books, comprising: James Bond - A Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies - Macmillan 1947. SIGNED BY JAMES BOND directly on title page without dedication. A very good book in original full brown cloth, map endpapers, 257 pages, illustrated. In very good dust wrapper with wear, chipping, and short closed tear to the front panel. Mary Wickham Bond - How 007 Got His Names - A near fine book SIGNED and inscribed on the front endpaper by Bond, 'To Essie/from her long-lost/"Squidge'/alias/Mary Wickham Bond/July 26 1966/The Stafford/London. In near fine unclipped wrapper, a trifle rubbed to corners Bond was an American ornithologist, specialising in birds of the Caribbean and while living in Jamaica, met and befriended Ian Fleming, who was also an avid bird watcher. Fleming liked and decided James Bond was the name he had been searching for and used Bond's name for the protagonist of his first novel Casino Royale and the subsequent secret service series featuring James Bond.

Condition: Good. First Edition. First edition. Signed on the dedication page by James Bond, the American ornithologist whose name Ian Fleming took for his iconic spy protagonist. Fleming, a keen birdwatcher himself, had a copy of Bond's guide and he later explained to the ornithologist's wife that "It struck me that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born." In a Reader's Digest interview, Fleming noted, "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest sounding name I could find, and James Bond, was something more interesting, like Peregrine Carruthers. Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department." Bound in publisher's grayish-blue cloth lettered in gilt; lacking the dust jacket. Good, with lean to binding, nearly half of the cloth on front cover is lifted from the board. Pages toned and several hinges exposed. A very scarce book in the first edition, and more so signed.

Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. First edition. Signed on the dedication page by James Bond, the American ornithologist whose name Ian Fleming took for his iconic spy protagonist. Fleming, a keen birdwatcher himself, had a copy of Bond's guide and he later explained to the ornithologist's wife that "It struck me that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born." In a Reader's Digest interview, Fleming noted, "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest sounding name I could find, and James Bond, was something more interesting, like Peregrine Carruthers. Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department." Bound in publisher's grayish-blue cloth lettered in gilt; lacking the dust jacket. Very Good or better with light worming to cloth at edges, cloth lightly soiled and worn. Pages toned, with owner name and foxing to preliminary sheets, several light pencil check marks to margins throughout. Hinge at rear index slightly exposed. A very scarce book in the first edition, and more so signed.