# Is "The Spy Who Loved Me" by Ian Fleming a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming (Jonathan Cape, 1962) is identified by: First edition, first impression (Gilbert A10a, 1.1): copyright page states 'First Published 1962' with no later-printing notice. True first is the UK Jonathan Cape edition, London, 16 April 1962.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression (Gilbert A10a, 1.1): copyright page states 'First Published 1962' with no later-printing notice
- Publisher's black cloth with a blind-stamped dagger device (the blade in silver) on the upper board, spine lettered in silver, scarlet endpapers; crown octavo, 221 pages; published 16 April 1962
- The Richard Chopping jacket (modeled on a Fairbairn-Sykes commando knife borrowed from Fleming's editor Michael Howard) carries the printed price at the front flap — reprint jackets are with its printed price, a quick tell
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ian Fleming |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 1962 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression (Gilbert A10a, 1.1): copyright page states 'First Published 1962' with no later-printing notice |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression (Gilbert A10a, 1.1): copyright page states 'First Published 1962' with no later-printing notice. Publisher's black cloth with a blind-stamped dagger device (the blade in silver) on the upper board, spine lettered in silver, scarlet endpapers; crown octavo, 221 pages; published 16 April 1962. The Richard Chopping jacket (modeled on a Fairbairn-Sykes commando knife borrowed from Fleming's editor Michael Howard) carries the printed price at the front flap — reprint jackets are with its printed price, a quick tell.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the UK Jonathan Cape edition, London, 16 April 1962. The first American edition followed from Viking Press, New York, 1962. Both are collected; Cape holds precedence.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Reprint jackets with its printed price at the flap are the documented later-issue tell; First Edition Library facsimiles of the Cape Bond firsts also circulate and are identified by slipcase and modern paper.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Spy Who Loved Me* by Ian Fleming a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-spy-who-loved-me
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.