On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Fleming, Ian - 1963

London: Jonathan Cape, 1963 First edition, third printing. Signed and inscribed to front free endpaper: "To / The Good Samaritans / from / Ian Fleming." Publisher's dark gray cloth, stamped in white to front board with ski-track motif, lettered in metallic silver to spine; in the original pictorial dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping with an illustration of a pair of artist's hands drawing the Bond family coat of arms. A near fine copy with a slight lean to spine, previous owner's inscription to front free endpaper above Fleming's inscription; in a very good or better dust jacket with toning and light wear to extremities, half-inch tear to spine head at rear fold, shallow chipping to outer corners. Overall, a nice copy, scarce with the author's signature. Gilbert A11a (3). On Her Majesty's Secret Service is Fleming's second novel featuring the malicious spy organization SPECTRE and its villainous leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld, first introduced in the ninth novel, Thunderball (1961). At the start of this novel, Bond is depressed in the wake of Operation Thunderball and struggling to follow up on Blofeld, whose trail has gone cold. Popularly known as a permanent bachelor, Bond surprises the reader by marrying the young daughter of a powerful crime boss. Just when things are beginning look up for 007, Blofeld returns to murder the new bride in a drive-by shooting that devastates Bond. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a truly unique portrayal of the emotional side of James Bond; this is accentuated in the film version starring George Lazenby, the only actor to play Bond just once.. Inscribed by Author. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Dust Jacket Included. Illus. by Chopping, Richard.