For Your Eyes Only | Pan | Hawkey | X239

For Your Eyes Only | Pan | Hawkey | X239. The same dust jacket artwork was used for the 6th to 16th printings
The same dust jacket artwork was used for the 6th to 16th printings
For Your Eyes Only | Pan | Hawkey | X239. There are 2 variants of the 16th printing (thick and thin) see text for more details
There are 2 variants of the 16th printing (thick and thin) see text for more details
For Your Eyes Only | Pan | Hawkey | X239. The right hand page is from the
The right hand page is from the "thick" version which seems to be a unique layout not used elsewhere
For Your Eyes Only | Pan | Hawkey | X239. CIS insurance advertising postcard found inside a 15th printing 1965
CIS insurance advertising postcard found inside a 15th printing 1965

08. For Your Eyes Only

Author : Ian Fleming
Publisher : Pan / Great Pan
Format : Paperback
Series : Pan Hawkey series
Edition : 6th to 16th
Year : 1963 (first published with this artwork)
Country published : UK
Artwork designer : Raymond Hawkey

General Notes

​In 1963 graphic designer (and novelist) Raymond Hawkey created a fresh new look for the Bond novels. The uniform design with minimal graphics contrasted with the “painted” designs of the previous series. The consistent use of modern fonts helped the series have a uniform look as did having “JAMES BOND” in large bold text at the top of each book. Elements of this design can be found in the Pan “Model” series of the 1970s and in the Panther / Triad series of the 1980s. Millions of copies of the Bond paperbacks were printed in the “Hawkey” series and for many is the definitive paperback series, indeed for many people of a “certain age” it was their introduction to reading James Bond novels. Thunderball is the only book in the series where Hawkey is credited (Cover design by Raymond Hawkey) so it is possible Pan staff laid out some of the other designs. The majority of the books were released with Hawkey designs in 1963 but the timing of the film releases of Dr No and From Russia With Love means that the “Movie Tie In” editions were published first. This pushed the release of the Hawkey cover versions of these titles out to 1964/65 and means they are less common than the others. It is probable however that these covers were designed at the same time as the others as early / prototype editions have been found.

Editions and pricing variants found with this artwork

The following printings with this artwork have been found in our collections. Note all printings have X239 to the spine. 5th printing 1963. A single copy has been found (with 3’6 printed to the front cover). This is likely to be a pre-release / test printing. 6th printing 1963. Copies found with  The 6th printing is also commonly found with the earlier painted cover. Uniquely for this series the price on the front cover when present is in green rather than yellow. 7th printing 1963. Copies found with   One 7th printing has been found with the 3'6 price printed in green, probably a 7th printing using up a spare 6th printing cover. If you come across one of these please get in touch. 8th printing 1964. Copies found with 3’6 printed to the front cover. 9th printing 1964. Copies found with 10th printing 1964. Copies found with: 11th printing 1964. Copies found with: 12th printing 1964. Copies found with: 13th printing 1965. Copies found with: 14th printing 1965. Copies found with: 15th printing 1965. Copies found with:
  • 3’6 printed to the front cover.
  • Unpriced
  • 3’6 label to front cover
  • The 15th printing (with 3’6 to cover) has been found with a CIS insurance post card inside (see photo). Other Pan printings can be found with Prudential cards and “Write for Profit” cards. 16th printing 1966. Copies found with The 16th printing is a bit of a mystery. Two different versions exist one of which is nearly twice as thick as the other (19mm vs 11mm). The use of thick and thin paper also occurred with the 1st printing of Live And Let Die but here it is not so simple. The “thick” printing has white titles along the spine whilst for the “thin"and all other editions they are in blue. The first page of the thick edition lists books down to OHMSS (matching the 15th printing) whilst for the thin edition its YOLT. This suggests the thick edition actually dates from 1965 and the thin from 1966. To confuse matters further the layout of the text seems unique to the thick edition. It uses a different, larger font and has smaller margins around the text. It seems to have the same printing errors as the other Pan editions (which were copied across from the Cape hardback). Overall the thick version has one extra page. Why Pan re-set the book just for this “thick” version can only be speculated on. One possibility is that it was an experiment to see if a larger / different font made the text easier to read. The thick version of the 16th printing is much less common than the thin. A ex-library hardback copy of the 16th printing has also been found with the Hawkey artwork, it seems probable that this has been re-bound with the library rather than sold by Pan as a hardback.

    Collectors notes

    As all 14 bond books were published in this uniform series, copies are plentiful so they make an ideal first set of books for the new collector. From Thunderball onwards the 1st Pan printings were in this Hawkey series, surprisingly On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 1st Pan edition is perhaps the most difficult to find / most valuable of all the Pan paperbacks (especially without any price to the front). The main reason for this is that the 1st four printings were export only.

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