007

Now that, with the 'proper' Casino Royale, all of the James Bond novels have been filmed, the movie-makers are obviously scratching around for titles for the revitalised movie franchise. Some of Ian Fleming's Bond short stories have been mined for titles before ('The Living Daylights', 'From a View to a Kill', 'For Your Eyes Only' and 'Octopussy'), and now they're using one more, 'Quantum of Solace', as the next Bond movie title. Penguin UK, who already have all the Bond books in their Modern Classics series, have repackaged all of the short stories under a nifty cover that looks very much like a still from one of those famous opening credits sequences.

After this, though, they're going to have to think up some new titles, as the remaining Bond story names don't exactly seem right: 'Risico', 'The Hildebrand Rarity', 'The Property of a Lady' and '007 in New York' aren't likely to be used, I suspect.

In any case, Penguin UK are also reissuing all of the original Bond books as hardcovers later this year, and they've done a fantastic job on the covers. I want to see one of these in the flesh, so to speak, to see how the artwork continues around the spine and onto the back. In the meantime, though, cock a snook at these wonderfully retro images, which include hand-drawn typography and each book's best-known Bond girl. You'll want to click for bigger versions, if you've any sense at all.






Fan-bloody-tastic, I says.

PS: Also, note the nicely incorporated Penguin logo. I know I go on a lot about Penguins on this site. I hasten to state that I don't work for them (more's the pity); they just have a solid and continuing history of interesting book design.