Updated James Bond Encyclopedia available for pre-order

An updated edition of the James Bond Encylopedia by John Cork and Collin Stutz is now available to pre-order from Amazon.com.

Due for release on 19 October, this new edition of the book will once again be published by DK Publishing and will retail for $40.00.

Literary 007 fans will recall that the original edition of the book was first published in late 2007 and included details on all of the James Bond films through 2006’s Casino Royale. This new edition also adds in Daniel Craig’s Quantum of Solace.

The original publisher’s blurb follows:

Created in full collaboration with Eon Productions, producers of the Bond movies, this illustrated celebration of the world’s most famous super-spy examines every aspect of 007’s world, with information on his history, style, and tastes, along with A-Z guides to his adversaries, allies, gadgets, cars, and, of course, the ever-glamorous Bond girls.

John Cork and Collin Stutz authorities on every aspect of the James Bond story, wrote the acclaimed book on the James Bond phenomenon, James Bond: The Legacy, have produced, written and directed 30 special feature documentaries for MGM’s DVD releases of James Bond films, and contributed to The Ultimate James Bond: An Interactive Dossier CD-Rom for MGM Interactive.

• Order the US hardback edition of James Bond Encyclopedia from Amazon.com

For up-to-the-minute literary James Bond coverage, always turn your browsers to the CommanderBond.net main page. Be sure to check out our new Twitter feed as well.

Little Nellie inventor Ken Wallis to give lecture

James Bond fans in Lincolnshire, England will want to take notice of this upcoming event later this month.

The Sleaford Standard reports that Wing Commander Ken Wallis, inventor of the autogyro known affectionately as ‘Little Nellie’ will be in the Sleaford area for a talk to aviation enthusiasts.

007 fans know of the autogyro best thanks to a memorable sequence in 1967’s You Only Live Twice in which Sean Connery’s Bond fights off four attacking helicopters while searching for the volcano headquarters of villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

The lecture will be in the old gymnasium at the Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre, at Martin Moor, on Wednesday, 22 July at 7.30pm. Admission is free to members and £4 for non-members.

To receive further information about attending this event, phone 01526 378270.

Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest news on James Bond-related events happening around the world.

More James Bond centenary paperbacks available

From Russia with Love cover

In early June, CommanderBond.net first reported that several of last year’s centenary editions of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels were making their way to paperback format.

Originally published in hardback under the Penguin 007 imprint with striking new cover designs by artist Michael Gillette, these editions were quickly coveted by fans and went out of print after just a few months in mid-2008.

In addition to the five already available titles showing up on online book sites such as Amazon.co.uk, literary 007 fans can now also order Live and Let Die and You Only Live Twice.

Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for the most up-to-date literary James Bond coverage on the web.

Details on Daniel Craig's A Steady Rain

In late May, CommanderBond.net reported that James Bond star Daniel Craig and Jackman would be teaming up to star in Keith Huff’s Broadway play A Steady Rain.

A new press release from earlier today announced the start date for the production as Tuesday, 29 September at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, located in midtown-Manhattan, New York.

Previews are set to begin on 10 September for a 12-week engagement.

A Steady Rain tells of two seasoned cops whose lifelong friendship is severely tested when a seemingly routine domestic disturbance call results in the death of a young boy. When the horrific truth of the situation is revealed, one of the two must take the blame for the fatal mistake.

The play will mark the Broadway debut for Craig after starring in numerous films, the most recent of which included Quantum of Solace and Defiance.

Keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page—as well as our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest James Bond news and coverage.

In conversation with Dame Judi Dench

Dame Judi Dench

James Bond fans in the UK will want to keep an eye out for this upcoming event at the Theatre Royal in Winchester.

Dame Judi Dench, who has now starred as MI6 chief ‘M’ in the past six James Bond films, will be taking time out from filming further episodes of Cranford for BBC television to talk about her illustrated book on her life and career, Judi Dench: Scenes From My Life, which was originally published in late 2005.

This event is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 19 July at 7:30pm. Tickets to this event will cost £15 and are available from the Theatre Royal Box Office.

For further details, phone 01962 840 440 or visit the event page at Waterstones.com.

Keep your browsers locked on the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest news on James Bond-related events occurring around the world.

James Bond's Lotus Esprit goes up for auction

A Lotus Turbo Esprit featured in 1981’s For Your Eyes Only is going up for auction later this month in the UK.

This Is London reports that the classic metallic bronze James Bond car has been tipped to sell for as much as £120,000.

The car is fitted with a ski rack, which came in handy for Sir Roger Moore’s 007 in the film. Two identical cars were supplied for the Bond film, but Edward Bridger-Stille, a director of auctioneers Coys, said the other one was blown up during a stunt.

Mr Bridger-Stille estimated the car will fetch between £80,000 to £120,000 and said it had ‘great investment potential’ in times of economic uncertainty elsewhere.

It will be auctioned by Coys in a sale at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, on 18 July. For further details, visit the official Coys website.

Keep your browsers locked on the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest news on James Bond-related events occurring around the world.

James Bond first editions sale at Bloomsbury Auctions

James Bond will be hitting the auction block later this month as apart of the latest sale being held by Bloomsbury Auctions in London.

Ian Fleming’s Thunderball

34 lots of first edition 007 novels by Ian Fleming join the 700+ other lots in the Bibliophile Sale which will be sold on Thursday, 16 July at 10:00am and 1:30pm. Literary Bond fans will want to note that included is one of the elusive signed limited first edition of Fleming’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Bloomsbury Auctions is located at: Bloomsbury House, 24 Maddox Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 1PP. For further details, phone +44(0) 20 7495 9494 or visit the official website.

Details on selected James Bond lots follow:

Lot 298 – Casino Royale

Casino Royale, first edition , second impression, light spotting to extreme edges, original boards, slight shelf lean, minor marking, otherwise very good, 8vo, 1953.

Estimate: £150 – £200

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Lot 300 – Moonraker

Moonraker, first edition , minor browning to free endpapers, original boards, slight shelf lean, overall fine, dust-jacket, spine slightly dulled and rubbed with fraying to head with small splits, small tears to upper fore-corners, a few minor chips, overall a very good example, 8vo, 1955.

Estimate: £1,500 – £2,000

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Lot 305 – Dr. No

Dr No, first edition , ink name on front pastedown, original first state plain boards, dust-jacket, torn at head of spine, some browning, corners chipped, 8vo, 1958.

Estimate: £200 – £300

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Lot 306 – Goldfinger

Goldfinger, first edition , publisher’s promotional card loosely inserted, original boards, fine, dust-jacket, without the usual browning, a few marks, darkened at edges, very small hole to upper fore-edge, otherwise very good, 8vo, 1959

Estimate: £450 – £550

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Lot 318 – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, first edition, number 37 of 250 copies signed by the author, colour portrait by Amherst Villiers, large bookplate of Patrick Nicholson mounted on front pastedown, original vellum-backed black buckram, spine very slightly darkened in places, original plastic jacket, spine ends chipped, t.e.g., a very good copy, 8vo, 1963.

Estimate: £2,500 – £3,000

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Lot 326 – You Only Live Twice & Octopussy and The Living Daylights

You Only Live Twice, first edition , first state, small tear near head of jacket spine, otherwise fine, 1964; Octopussy…, fine, 1966, first editions, original boards, dust-jackets, price-clipped, 8vo (2)

Estimate: £180 – £220

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Bond girl Gemma Arterton engaged to 007 double

Bond girl Gemma Arterton has gone public with her engagement to Stefano, who acted as a body double for 007 star Daniel Craig in last year’s Quantum of Solace.

Gemma Arterton

According to the Daily Mail, Arterton and her fiancé held an engagement party over the weekend at the Sun & 13 Gantons brasserie in Soho along with friends and family.

It was the 22nd James Bond film that first brought the two together. An unnamed source told Reveal magazine: ‘It’s so cute, they are really loved up and it’s great to see Gemma looking so happy. They met on the set of Quantum of Solace.’

‘He was Daniel Craig’s body double and there was clearly chemistry from the start. They’ve been together for a few months now and it’s going really well.’

Keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for continued Quantum of Solace coverage.

James Bond film star reunion at the Hollywood Show

A reunion of James Bond film stars including several Bond girls is set to take place at the upcoming Hollywood Collectors & Celebrity Show in Burbank, California this July.

The current line-up of 007 film stars include:

• George Lazenby (James Bond 007, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)
• Richard Kiel (Jaws, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker)
• Caroline Munro (Naomi, The Spy Who Loved Me)
• Gloria Hendry (Rosie Carver, Live And Let Die)
• Lana Wood (Plenty O’Toole, Diamonds Are Forever)
• Luciana Paluzzi (Fiona Volpe, Thunderball)
• Martine Beswick (Zora, From Russia With Love / Paula Caplan, Thunderball)
• Maud Adams (Andrea Anders, The Man with the Golden Gun / Octopussy, Octopussy)
• Molly Peters (Patricia Fearing, Thunderball)
• Tanya Roberts (Stacey Sutton, A View To A Kill)
• Trina Parks (Thumper, Diamonds Are Forever
• Virginia Hey (Rubavitch, The Living Daylights)

The Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show will be taking place on Saturday, July 18th (10 AM to 5 PM) and Sunday, July 19th (10 AM to 4 PM) at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center.

Admission costs are $20 per day (children under 14 years old and accompanied by an adult are free). Admission for both days is $30.

Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show
The Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center
2500 North Hollywood Way
Burbank, California 91505
Phone: 1-818-843-6000
Official website

Keep watching CBn for all the latest details on James Bond events.

Discuss this James Bond news in this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond 007 forum on the internet. Thanks to Richard Kiel for bringing this to our attention.

An audience with Sir Christopher Lee

The recently-knighted Sir Christopher Lee sat down with The Independent‘s Brian Viner to discuss his prolific film career, which is estimated to include more than 350 big screen credits to his name.

Sir Christopher Lee

For James Bond buffs, the actor—who has a penchant for portraying memorable film villains—is best known for his role as hitman Francisco Scaramanga opposite Roger Moore n 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun. Adding on further to his association with the world of 007, he was a cousin of Bond creator Ian Fleming.

Explaining the relation, Lee stated that after his parents’ divorce, his mother, Contessa Estelle Marie Carandini di Sarzano, married a banker, Harcourt Rose, whose sister was Fleming’s mother. What followed was a friendship between Fleming and himself.

‘I used to play golf with him, and I remember him asking me on the links if I wanted to play Dr No, which was about to go into production. But by the time he got round to mentioning it to [Bond producers] Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, they’d cast another actor.’

Thankfully, Lee got another chance at Bond a little over a decade later when he got the lead villain role in The Man with the Golden Gun. ‘Scaramanga was a real name, [Fleming] didn’t make it up,’ Lee states. ‘It was a boy at Eton he disliked intensely.’

‘Ian could be very acid, certainly,’ said Lee in response to hearing Viner’s statement that Sean Connery was recently quoted as saying that Fleming was a dreadful snob.

He continues: ‘But I’m guessing Ian wasn’t enamoured of Sean, either. I do remember a quote to the effect that he didn’t think of James Bond as a former bodybuilder and coffin polisher. But I don’t know whether he disliked Sean’s performance, and even if I did know, I would never say so. Please don’t say that I said so. You raised it. I’m not making any further comment.’

To check out the entire interview with Sir Christopher Lee, head over to The Independent.

Keep your browsers locked on the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest James Bond-related news.