James Bond 7 Goldfinger London: Jonathan Cape, 1959 1st / DJ. A first edition, first printing published by Cape in 1959. London: Jonathan Cape, 1959 First edition, first impression, first issue, second state (lacking the 3mm diagonal line detail in the upper left area of the skull stamped to the front board, else identical to first state). Goldfinger was first published in the UK on 23 March 1959 as a hardcover edition by Jonathan Cape. Publisher's black cloth stamped in blind to front board with a line-drawing of a skull with fifty-dollar gold pieces to each eye socket and a single red rose held between its teeth, lettered in gilt to spine; in the original pictorial dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping.
Condition:
Near fine copy.. Slight shelf wear to the head of the spine, light toning to top of inside dust jacket otherwise bright and unfaded. In a very good unclipped wrapper. A small loss and very mild browning to top of the front flap. Very clean boards. Internally clean with slight browning to page edger. No ownership names. Unclipped dust jacket althugh the top and bottom inside panels have been clipped but does not effect text.
Goldfinger features the villain Auric Goldfinger, the richest man in England whose wealth is stored in his namesake mineral- gold. Indeed, the symbol of gold plays an important role throughout the text; the name "Auric" comes from the chemical element symbol for gold "Au," and Goldfinger murders his ex-girlfriend by covering her body completely in gold. In this novel, The Bank of England wants to know and they're eager to discover what he's done with the gold he's been stockpiling since the War. James Bond is put on the trail, but this isn't the first time 007 has crossed paths with the enigmatic millionaire. Inexorably drawn into the most ambitious heist of the century, Bond soon learns that Goldfinger never forgets and never forgives. Greed and power have created a deadly opponent who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and against Goldfinger's murderous mania for gold. Bond may prove the only defence. 'Nobody else does this sort of thing as well as Mr. Fleming... It offers more passages of sustained excitement than we are likely to get from any other thriller this year' Sunday Times. Bond must stop Goldfinger from completing Operation Grand Slam, a gold-smuggling plot that would cripple the world economy and give the Russian spy organization SMERSH total power over the West. Goldfinger also introduces one of the most memorable villainous sidekicks, Oddjob, whose deadly aim and razor-edged bowler hat make him a force to be reckoned with. first 'Bond Blockbuster' cinematically.