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This maid would need a martini — shaken or stirred — if she realized the bum deal she made.
When theater critic and book collector Clive Hirschhorn wrote an article for the London Sunday Express in 1995 about the value of first-edition hardcovers, he received a letter from a woman in Australia inquiring how much her copy of Ian Fleming’s “Casino Royale” was worth.
The woman claimed she had worked as “char lady,” or maid, for the famous British author, who gave the book to her as a gift after its publication in 1953.
Intrigued, Hirschhorn offered Fleming’s maid 1,000 pounds, or $1,600, for the rare volume.
“It was a very nice copy,” recalled Hirschhorn. “It’s the most valuable of all of the Bond books, because they printed a very limited number of copies.”
The cover, dripping with pink hearts, was designed by the author himself.
On Oct. 25, Hirschhorn will put the 59-year-old hardcover on the auction block for a starting bid of $24,000.
And the volume is expected to fetch much more.
The book auction, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the 007 film franchise, will feature Hirschhorn’s entire collection of 12 first-edition Bond books and is expected to go for at least $55,000 next month. The highlights of his collection are currently on display in Manhattan at 25CPW Gallery.
“After I bought ‘Casino Royale,’ I thought I’d like to have the complete series,” said Hirschhorn, who spent decades hunting for the rare books in secondhand bookstores. “The first Bond film was ‘Dr. No,’ and after the film franchise started, the books went up in value. The later books aren’t as difficult to find as the first three.”
But these page turners aren’t for reading.
“Any scratch on them, any tear, any coffee stain, you can’t believe how much it will devalue a book,” said Hirschhorn.
“The most important thing in terms of the value of a book is the condition of the book’s dust jacket.”
Hirschhorn started collecting American and British literature in 1984. Today his collection of more than 470 volumes, including first editions of “The Great Gatsby,” “The Maltese Falcon” and “Watership Down,” is worth more than $2 million and will all be for sale at the October auction.
“Collecting is like a virus,” said Hirschhorn. “It sticks with you, and you don’t get rid of it. With the Internet, the romance has gone out of the hunt a little bit.”
But unloading his prized possessions is bittersweet.
“I’ve had them a long time, and there’s a lot of money to be spent on insurance,” he said. “The time has come to part with them. At this point, I’m retired, and the money could be used for other things.”