Bentley has created a limited edition of the forthcoming James Bond book, Carte Blanche (for the regular hardback edition, US$15·49 at Amazon; £9·99 at Amazon UK), by Jeffery Deaver, to be released on May 26.
It continues a long tie-up between Ian Fleming’s literary super-spy and the Bentley car brand. Bond owned three Bentleys in Fleming’s 14 novels—a 4½-litre with an Amherst Villiers supercharger, a Mark VI, and a ‘Mark II’ (sic) Continental with coachwork by Mulliner—and the tradition was briefly revisited by John Gardner, when he was appointed by Glidrose Publications to write Bond novels in the 1980s and 1990s.
The previous Bond novel, Devil May Care, by Sebastian Faulks, also had a limited-edition commemorative edition, which sold out within days.
Bond’s latest choice in Carte Blanche is the Bentley Continental GT.
The limited-edition book has been designed by Bentley senior designer Brett Boydell. ‘As a designer it doesn’t get much better than a brief of Carte Blanche!’ he says. ‘The design features radical concepts that we feel reflect the name of the book, the ideas inherent in the Bond legacy, and the design principles we are passionate about.’
Inspiration also comes from the streets of Dubai, in which Bond finds himself in Carte Blanche.
Each edition comes in a polished aluminium case in the form reminiscent of the new Bentley Continental GT, and retails for £1,000 each. It is limited to 500 copies worldwide.
The book inside is bound in white Nappa leather, in the same grade as that used inside a Bentley. The use of red edging evokes the actual GT interior. Title, author’s name and the Bentley wings are embossed on to the spine. The text is printed in two colours on ivory paper, with matching red leather endpapers.
A bullet hole has been die-cut into some of the pages of the book. Hidden within the pages is a single polished 9 mm bullet, individually marked with a number distinct to each copy. The text is positioned so that the bullet does not disturb the reading.
Pre-ordering may be done through www.007carteblanchebentley.com. Delivery follows publication on May 26.
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