The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning" is the famous first line of Casino Royale , the first James Bond novel. It was published in 1953 by Jonathan Cape with a grey jacket decorated with pink hearts apparently dropping pink tears, or perhaps blood. Now, according to Andrew McGeachin, the managing director of London antiquarian booksellers Sotherans of Sackville Street, a well-preserved first edition of Casino Royale could sell for between £20,000 and £25,000.

"The Ian Fleming market keeps going up and up," he says. "Collectors often start by buying an author they like, and everyone knows James Bond," McGeachin says.