Live and Let Die 16th Signet Paperback

Live and Let Die, 16th Signet paperback printing, August 1964, U.S., originally priced at 50¢.

Upon seeing Mr. Big in the flesh, "Bond at once realized that the photographs had conveyed nothing of the man, nothing of the power and the intellect which seemed to radiate from him, nothing of the over-size features."  Likewise, after reading Fleming's description of Mr. Big, the reader might feel that the cover art conveyed nothing of the man.  But that's more of a compliment to Fleming than a criticism of the illustrator.  Especially for a small drawing, it conveys something of the bigness of Mr. Big.  Although the cover is not as memorable as the cover of Signet's printing of Diamonds Are Forever, it isn't forgettable as are others from that publisher.

Roger Moore Coffee Cup

The image of Bond on the coffee cup is from the gun duel on Scaramanga's Island in The Man with the Golden Gun.  This is one of the museum's most recent acquisitions, a 2013 Christmas gift, which is quite appropriate considering that TMWTGG was released a week before Christmas in 1974 (after this movie, Tomorrow Never Dies has been the only Bond film released in December).  As tempting as it would be to enjoy coffee in this cup, or perhaps even a martini (stirred, not shaken), not even a pencil will ever touch the inside of this cup.  

Moonraker Bantam Paperback

Moonraker, Ian Fleming, Bantam paperback printing, March 1973, U.S., originally priced at 95¢.

We'll discuss the cover art depictions of the three main characters: Bond, Drax, and the girl, Gala Brand.

Firstly, Bond looks completely different than he does on the cover of Goldfinger printed less than a year before by the same publisher. His depiction here is the most dated and the most un-Bond-like we've covered so far.  He's badly in need of a haircut and a smaller bow tie. 

Secondly, we're assuming the bald mustachioed man is supposed to be Drax.  Evidently the illustrator never read the novel -- or even the description of Drax on the back cover.

Finally, Gala Brand appears like Tiffany Case on the Diamonds Are Forever poster.  We prefer Fleming's depiction: