To celebrate the release of Carte Blanche, the new James Bond book by Jeffery Deaver on May 26, publisher Hodder & Stoughton has partnered with Bentley Motors to create an exclusive Bentley special edition: the ultimate luxury edition of the highly anticipated new James Bond adventure. The 500 limited edition copies are available for pre-order from 26 April, exactly a month before publication date. Huge worldwide demand is anticipated for this new special edition after Bentley’s collaborative bespoke book for the previous Bond novel, Devil May Care, by Sebastian Faulks, sold out within days.
Ian Fleming always admired the stately beauty of the Bentley and, as a result, James Bond owned three Bentleys over the course of the 14 original Bond novels. In Carte Blanche, award-winning thriller writer Jeffery Deaver reunites Bond with this classic marque. In this contemporary adventure, the agent will be behind the wheel of the beautifully sculpted and sophisticated new Bentley Continental GT.
The design team at Bentley worked closely with Hodder & Stoughton to capture the spirit of Bond and Bentley. A team of seven designers submitted proposals for the edition and the final design came from Bentley Senior Designer Brett Boydell. He comments, “As a designer it doesn’t get much better than a brief of ‘Carte Blanche’! The design features radical concepts that we feel reflect the name of the book, the ideas inherent in the Bond legacy, and the design principles we are passionate about.”
The case of the Bentley special edition is inspired by the deserts of Dubai, and the new Bentley Continental GT, Bond’s car of choice in the book. Like the exterior of the GT, the case is made from polished aluminium, giving it a seamless and aerodynamic shape. In deference to the title Carte Blanche, the book itself is bound in white Nappa leather, the same outstanding grade of leather used in a Bentley’s interior, mimicking the interior of the GT with its contrast of white leather trim and Pillar Box red edging. The title, author’s name and the familiar wings of the Bentley logo are carefully embossed into the front and foil-blocked onto the spine. The text is printed in black and red on sumptuous ivory paper, with endpapers of a matching red leather. In one last twist, playing on the idea of an agent being given Carte Blanche, is one of the most dramatic features of the design: a die-cut bullet hole that pierces pages of the book. Hidden within the pages is a single polished 9mm bullet, individually marked with a number distinct to each copy, making the edition truly unique.
This special edition links the legendary hero with the iconic automobile in the most spectacular way—each copy is custom-produced to Bentley’s exacting standards and arrives inside a stunning metal case. The special edition is strictly limited to 500 copies worldwide at a price of £1,000 each, which will be available to pre-order worldwide throughwww.007carteblanchebentley.com. The editions will be delivered after publication date.