But there’s a caveat to this story: the book in question, although encased in a tired dust jacket, contained a lengthy inscription from the cover illustrator Richard Chopping.
Chopping prefaced his message to his friend and neighbour Susan with the advice to ‘please keep me in a plastic bag’. He then wrote: ‘Fleming had very little to do with this cover. I chose the objects and dispersed them as I wanted. He used to tell me what he wanted but I got fed up with that and said, ‘I must read the book first.’ He said, ‘Oh you don’t want to do that, it’s all rubbish.’ However, I did and decided what I would do. Although I agreed with him.’ As a postscript, Chopping added: ‘Fleming was rather mean. When I asked him if I could have a royalty on the books instead of him buying my pictures outright for peanuts, he said, almost before I finished my sentence, ‘No – my company wouldn’t wear it.’ So I upped my fee thereafter, but they were sill cheap.’ The book, which was estimated at around $550, sold for $5860.
Chopping got the job of Bond illustrator through Ian Fleming’s society wife Ann, who attended an exhibition with Francis Bacon. The painter was also a friend of Chopping, whose works were included in the exhibition. He recalled, “[Bacon] took her upstairs to see my paintings, which was very good of him, and Ann went back to Ian and said, ‘Well, you ought to get this chap to do your next book jacket’. And he was hired. His first Bond cover design was in 1957 for From Russia With Love, with a pistol and flower design.
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