Massive James Bond memorabilia auction comes to London

By Greg MacLeman

| 23 Nov 2015

A huge sale of show-stopping film posters and memorabilia will take place at the Royal Horticultural Society in London on 1 December, with James Bond's boat from The World is Not Enough set to take a starring role.

The boat was created for and used in one of the opening scenes of the film, which featured a chase on the river Thames. One of only four ever built, the boat is powered by a 5.7-litre V8 engine and is expected to sell for as much as £10,000.

"We are delighted to offer items from the unique James Bond collection of Marc Slattery," said Coys poster specialist Adrian Cowdry. "This important and well-known collection features an unsurpassed amount of film posters and related items spanning the entire history of the James Bond films, as well as other related collectables."

Other highlights of the sale include an original 1965 Thunderball poster, a brochure from the premier of Her Majesty's Secret Service and a skull poster from the most recent film, SPECTRE.

The poster used to promote Thunderball has been hailed as one of the best pieces of Bond artwork and is thought to be worth between £6500 and £10,000. Adrian Cowdry said: "Originally designed in a four panel format, intended to be cut into two or four for the cinema to use around the advertising area, this particular version was never cut into sections and is one of the finest examples available."

Meanwhile, the brochure for Her Majesty's Secret Service, which was only ever produced in limited numbers, could fetch as much as £1500. Also produced in low numbers, the SPECTRE skull poster was created for the cast and crew of the film and is expected to sell for £700-800.

A brace of first issue film posters from the early 1960s are also expected to attract a lot of interest. The first, a 1962 poster from Dr No is estimated at £7-8000, while the second, used to promote the 1963 film From Russia With Love could make as much as £6000.

The sale also includes a number of early novels, such as Man With the Golden Gun (£150-200), Octopussy (£150-200) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (£450-500).

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Greg MacLeman

Greg MacLeman is a contributor to and former Features Editor of Classic & Sports Car, and drives a restored and uprated 1974 Triumph 2500TC

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