One man's love affair with the world's greatest secret agent is set to net him a fortune even Goldfinger would be proud of, Mark Foster reports.

HIS name is Bond... James Bond - and those lucky enough to have one of the original books could soon be enjoying a taste of the 007-style high life.

Ian Fleming's suave, licensed-to-kill super spy grew from humble post-war origins to become one of the great fictional icons of the 20th Century.

The first book, Casino Royale, was published in April 1953 to modest success, but by the time the decade was over the series had become a publishing phenomenon.

And when the films began in 1962 the character went stratospheric, turning one-time milkman Sean Connery into an international superstar in the process.

Since then, Bond has never looked back. George Lazenby, Roger Moore, and Timothy Dalton have all stepped into his cinematic shoes with varying degrees of success.

In the 1990s former York actor Pierce Brosnan breathed new life into the role and his fourth outing as 007, Die Another Day, is due for release later this year.

Fleming, an Old Etonian wartime intelligence officer, only saw the early years of success, dying in 1964.

But while other writers have taken up their pens to continue Bond's literary adventures - Kingsley Amis and John Gardner among them - it is the original stories that are still the best-known and most avidly read.

Even after almost half a century they still sell in significant numbers, and the titles are regularly reissued. But to a true Bond fanatic it is the first editions that are the Holy Grail - however, they don't come cheap.

Next week, at the autumn book sale of Tennants of Leyburn, North Yorkshire, buyers are going to have to dig deep when some early editions go under the hammer.

A first edition of Moonraker, published in 1955, is expected to fetch anything up to £2,200, while the 1956 Diamonds Are Forever is expected to attract bids of up to £600.

From Russia With Love, first issued in 1957, should go for about £300 and the following year's Dr No is expected to be sold for a similar amount.

The auctioneers even expect one of Fleming's later Bond books, The Man With The Golden Gun, to fetch at least £180 at the sale next Thursday.

These are prices that certainly leave the average book buyer shaken, not stirred.

Gilt-edged Bonds

First editions will be hardbacks. The first printed page after the title will say First Published and the year. There will be no details of subsequent reprints. UK versions are nearly always more valuable than US versions.

The value of a book will be determined by how old it is, how rare it is and what condition it is in. A "mint" or "fine" copy is effectively perfect. Other copies may have damage or discolouring to the dust jacket, or marked or discoloured pages. Anything like this will decrease value.

A mint UK edition of Casino Royale is valued at £7,000 to £10,000. A complete mint set of Bond first editions from Casino Royale to Octopussy is worth £27,150.