Goldfinger Bantam Paperback Printing

Goldfinger, Ian Fleming, Bantam paperback printing, June 1972 (according to a library stamp in the book, it was first due back on Oct 25 '72), U.S., originally priced at 95¢. 

For our first post, we went with this copy of Goldfinger, even though it's not a first edition or a movie tie-in edition or autographed.  We just picked it up at a used bookstore in Reno for a few bucks several years ago.  But this printing is noteworthy for two reasons. Primarily, because the cover, like the title sequence of a Bond film before political correctness set in, depicts the bare breasts (well, one breast) of a woman – presumably Jill Masterson, the golden girl. 

Additionally, this is one of the few printings of a 007 novel, after the theatrical release of Dr. No in 1962, to depict the character of James Bond on the cover – as someone other than the actor playing the part in the movie (in a tie-in edition) or as a silhouette, as we shall see in future posts.  He isn't actually supposed to be Sean Connery, although he resembles him. This was no accident, considering that Sean Connery played Bond in Goldfinger, and that this was printed only one year after Connery's last Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever, and the year before Roger Moore's first, Live and Let Die.  At this point (but not for much longer), in the eyes of most people, Sean Connery was still James Bond. 

As dated as this cover might seem, it's not nearly as dated as some others we're going to see from the late 1960's through the 70's.