Ian Fleming | Thunderball, 1961, first impression, first issue, binding A, Kevin McClory's annotated copy

Ian Fleming

Thunderball. London: Jonathan Cape, 1961

8vo, FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, binding A, original dark brown cloth, lettered in gilt, design to upper cover in blind, original dust-jacket by Richard Chopping, housed in black quarter morocco clamshell case by the Chelsea Bindery, a few light dampstains to edges, blue ink stains to bottom edge and rear endpapers, spine ends bumped, ink stains to dust-jacket, creased at extremities and chipped at corners with a 22mm tear at head

A REMARKABLE COPY, ANNOTATED BY KEVIN MCCLORY, THE MAN DUBBED "IAN FLEMING'S NEMESIS". This book was used in the legendary legal battle between McClory and Fleming. McClory sued Fleming shortly before the publication of Thunderball, claiming that the novel was plagiarised by a screenplay written by himself and Jack Whittingham in 1958.

This is the copy from the files of Farrer & Co., Fleming's solicitors. It is annotated by McClory in pencil, then overwritten in pen, highlighting the plagiarised passages and asserting ownership of ideas. See, for example, McClory's statement on the title page: "Entire story obviously | the property of XANADU | PARTNERSHIP", referencing McClory's film production company formed along with Ivar Bryce, Fleming's fellow defendant. On page 46, McClory claims that SPECTRE, the international crime organisation introduced in the novel, was his own invention: "The use of the group sprang from | my original thought that Mafia etc., | not highly successful Box Office material". At the back of the book, McClory has listed the page numbers containing plagiarised content, with a note reading "105 pages out of 254 substantially film story".

The case was settled out of court in 1963, with credit given to McClory and Whittingham. Presumably written by one of Fleming's lawyers as a first suggestion for how to credit the plaintiffs, an annotation in pencil reads: "The story incorporates incidents from a screen | play which was the joint work of Ian Fleming, | Jack Whittingham & Kevin McClory." The final wording, published in subsequent editions of Thunderball, amended the order of names, reading "based on the screen treatment by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Ian Fleming."

The stress of the court case was said to have had a profound effect on Fleming's health; he suffered two heart attacks during proceedings, and nine months after the trial had ended, died of a third.

PROVENANCE:

Farrer & Co., stamps to front free endpaper, title page, rear free endpaper and dust-jacket

LITERATURE:

Gilbert A9a (1.1); for the McClory case: Nicholas Shakespeare, Ian Fleming: The Complete Man (London, 2023), pp. 588