A Stunning Ancient Koto Period Katana Circa 1400, Muromachi Era., Around 600 Years Old & Used From The The Warring States Period Sengoku jidai, From 1467 to 1567

Originally tachi or uchigatana mounted this fabulous and ancient sword was remounted likely 400 years ago as a katana. Signed tsuba decorated with a figure on a water buffalo and small pure gold inlaid dots. Gilt decorated fushi kashira, the fushi with depicting jungle fauna and the kashira with a takebori tiger. Gold silk bound tsuka over bronze shishi on black samegawa. Set off with a dark red stone finish lacquer saya. The blade has an incredibly beautiful and complex hamon pattern, with just a couple of thin, natural openings due to it's great age. The uchigatana was the predecessor to the katana as the battle-blade of feudal Japan's bushi (warrior class), and as it evolved into the later design, the two were often differentiated from each other only by how they were worn and by the fittings for the blades.
It was during the Mongol invasions that it was shown there were some weaknesses in the tachi sword which led to the development of the Katana.

The Warring States period (Sengoku jidai) lasted for the century from 1467 to 1567 although the wars and confusion of the age were not finally ended until the creation of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603. The name is drawn from a similar period of civil war in China. It saw the breakdown of central authority, and an extended period of wars between hundreds of local, independent strongmen. The end saw the emergence of new methods of authority which were finally able to achieve a moderate degree of political centralization (there still remained 250 local rulers, the daimyo) and, to everyone’s relief and satisfaction, relative peace.

In later Japanese feudal history, during the Sengoku and Edo periods, certain high-ranking warriors daimyo of what became the ruling class would wear their swords tachi mounted This sword would very likely have been used in the Onin War (1467-1477) which led to serious political fragmentation and obliteration of domains: a great struggle for land and power ensued among bushi chieftains and lasted until the mid-sixteenth century. Peasants rose against their landlords and samurai against their overlords, as central control virtually disappeared. An early Japanese print in the gallery shows a samurai receiving his reward of a fine tachi such as this one from his shugo daimyo lord.

The shugo daimyo were the first group of men to hold the title "daimyo". They arose from among the shugo during the Muromachi period. The shugo daimyo held not only military and police powers, but also economic power within a province. They accumulated these powers throughout the first decades of the Muromachi period.
The Onin War was a major uprising in which shugo daimyo fought each other. During this and other wars of the time, kuni ikki, or provincial uprisings, took place as locally powerful warriors sought independence from the shugo daimyo. The deputies of the shugo daimyo, living in the provinces, seized the opportunity to strengthen their position. At the end of the fifteenth century, those shugo daimyo who succeeded remained in power. Those who had failed to exert control over their deputies fell from power and were replaced by a new class, the "sengoku daimyo", who arose from the ranks of the shugodai'K and Ji-samurai.

Every single item from The Lanes Armoury is accompanied by our unique Certificate of Authenticity. Part of our continued dedication to maintain the standards forged by us over the past 100 years of our family’s trading
28 inch blade length from tsuba to tip, 39 inches full length complete katana in saya, 9.65 inch Tsuka  read more

Code: 19532

A Koto Period O-Sukashi Katana Tsuba

Circa 1550. Tsuba were made by whole dynasties of craftsmen whose only craft was making tsuba. They were usually lavishly decorated. In addition to being collectors items, they were often used as heirlooms, passed from one generation to the next. Japanese families with samurai roots sometimes have their family crest (mon) crafted onto a tsuba. Tsuba can be found in a variety of metals and alloys, including iron, steel, brass, copper and shakudo. In a duel, two participants may lock their katana together at the point of the tsuba and push, trying to gain a better position from which to strike the other down. This is known as tsubazeriai pushing tsuba against each other.  read more

Code: 20314

One Amazing {of Two} 17th Century Iron Cannon Balls From 'Queen Elizabeth's Pistol', A 24 Foot Long Basilisk Cannon. The Cannon Balls Were Found in the 19th Century. A Fabulous Relic From 'The Siege of Hull' During the English Civil War

'Queen Elizabeth's Pistol', was the Tudor nickname of a fabulous cannon presented to Queen Elizabeth's father King Henry the VIIIth. In the English Civil war it was called 'the great Basilisco of Dover' and it was used in the English Civil war, first by the Parliamentarian artillery train forces of the Earl of Essex, it was captured, at Lostwithiel in August 1644, then used by the King's Artillery train, and then retaken by the Parliamentarian forces.

The basilisk got its name from the mythological basilisk: a fire-breathing venomous serpent that could cause large-scale destruction and kill its victims with its glance alone. It was thought that the very sight of it would be enough to scare the enemy to death

The cannon balls were recovered from the besieged area of Hull, and sold at auction in the 19th century, and since then, they have been in the same family's ownership. We are selling them separately, and priced individually.

The 24 foot long bronze cannon was cast in 1544 by Jan Tolhuys in Utrecht. It is thought to have been presented to Henry VIII by Maximiliaan van Egmond, Count of Buren and Stadtholder of Friesland as a gift for his young daughter Elizabeth and is known to have been referred to as Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol by an article in the Gentleman's Magazine from 1767. The cannon is thought to have been used during the English Civil War, described as 'the great Basilisco of Dover' amongst other ordnance captured by Royalist forces from the Earl of Essex in Cornwall in 1644, later used at the siege of Hull and recaptured by Parliamentarians. The barrel is decorated in relief with fruit, flowers, grotesques, and figures symbolizing Liberty, Victory and Fame. The gun carriage was commissioned by the Duke of Wellington in the 1820s, when it was then known as Queen Anne's gun, cast from French guns captured at Waterloo.

Maximilian van Egmont, Count of Buren, Stadtholder of Friesland, 1509-1548, was a distinguished military commander in the service of the Emperor. He was on terms of friendship with Henry VIII and commanded the Imperial contingent at the Siege of Boulogne in 1544. The gun may have been installed at Dover as soon as it was received in England. In the inventory of the Royal possessions drawn up after the King's death in 1547 "the Ordynance and Munycions of Warre......which were in the black bulworke at the peire of Dover....included Basillisches of brasse .....oone Basillisches shotte ......Cl ti"

A popular rendering of the inscription on the gun was 'Load me well and keep me clean, I'll send a ball to Calais Green'. A footnote in the 1916 inventory suggests that this is a doubtful boast since ' Calais Green' was a part of Dover. There appears, however, to be no basis for this statement.

We show in the gallery two of the Basilisk cannon balls recovered outside the curtain wall of Pontefract Castle

Pontefract Castle sits on the edge of the medieval market town. Conservation work is being undertaken with the ambition of making Pontefract a key heritage destination within West Yorkshire. The £3.5m Heritage Lottery funded project is known as the Key to the North, after the title bestowed upon the castle by Edward I. During the project, workmen at the castle recovered seven cannonballs from a section of the castle’s curtain wall.

This cannon ball {a pair to our other one} was acquired from an auction, of recovered Civil War relics from the Siege of Hull, that was held in Hull in the early Victorian period, and acquired from the buyers directly descended family, by us, very recently.

The basilisk was a very heavy bronze cannon employed during the Late Middle Ages. The barrel of a basilisk could weigh up to 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) and could have a calibre of up to 5 inches (13 cm). On average they were around 10 feet long, though some, like Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol, were almost three times that length.
The basilisk got its name from the mythological basilisk: a fire-breathing venomous serpent that could cause large-scale destruction and kill its victims with its glance alone. It was thought that the very sight of it would be enough to scare the enemy to death

The Basilisk cannon used in the Civil War was a most specific calibre of almost 5 inches, and fired this distinct size of round shot cannon ball munition of just over 4 1/2 inch diameter

We also show in the gallery a photograph of 'Queen Elizabeth's Pistol'. in Dover Castle, with a stack of the very same sized cannon balls.

The ball is very surface russetted, but still spherical and very good for its age,

Every single item from The Lanes Armoury is accompanied by our unique Certificate of Authenticity. Part of our continued dedication to maintain the standards forged by us over the past 100 years of our family’s trading  read more

Code: 25075

Roman Ist Century AD Hippocampus Intaglio Engraved Bronze 'Status' Ring.

Henig type Xb bronze Roman ring around 1900 years old. In copper bronze with great, natural age patination

In the Iliad, Homer describes Poseidon, god of horses, earthquakes, and the sea, driving a chariot drawn by brazen-hoofed horses over the sea's surface, and Apollonius of Rhodes, describes the horse of Poseidon emerging from the sea and galloping across the Libyan sands.8 This compares to the specifically "two-hoofed" hippocampi of Gaius Valerius Flaccus in his Argonautica: "Orion when grasping his father’s reins heaves the sea with the snorting of his two-hooved horses." In Hellenistic and Roman imagery, however, Poseidon (or Roman Neptune) often drives a sea-chariot drawn by hippocampi. Thus, hippocampi sport with this god in both ancient depictions and much more modern ones, such as in the waters of the 18th-century Trevi Fountain in Rome surveyed by Neptune from his niche above.

The engraved intaglio seal ring was important for displaying the Roman's status. For example Tiberius, who was after all left-handed according to Suetonius, thus displays a ring in his bronze portrait as the Pontifex Maximus: The complete Roman Empire had around a 60 million population and a census more perfect than many parts of the world (to collect taxes, of course) but identification was still quite difficult and aggravated even more because there were a maximum of 17 men names and the women received the name of the family in feminine and a number (Prima for First, Secunda for Second…). A lot of people had the same exact name.
So the Roman proved the citizenship by inscribing themselves (or the slaves when they freed them) in the census, usually accompanied with two witnesses. Roman inscribed in the census were citizens and used an iron or bronze ring to prove it. With Augustus, those that could prove a wealth of more than 400,000 sesterces were part of a privileged class called Equites (knights) that came from the original nobles that could afford a horse. The Equites were middle-high class and wore a bronze or gold ring to prove it, with the famous Angusticlavia (a tunic with an expensive red-purple twin line). Senators (those with a wealth of more than 1,000,000 sesterces) also used the gold ring and the Laticlave, a broad band of purple in the tunic.

So the rings were very important to tell from a glimpse of eye if a traveller was a citizen, an equites or a senator, or legionary. People sealed and signed letters with the rings and its falsification could bring death.
The fugitive slaves didn’t have rings but iron collars with texts like “If found, return me to X” which also helped to recognise them. The domesticus slaves (the ones that lived in houses) didn’t wore the collar but sometimes were marked. A ring discovered 50 years ago is now believed to possibly be the ring of Pontius Pilate himself, and it was the same copper-bronze form ring as is this one.

Every single item from The Lanes Armoury is accompanied by our unique Certificate of Authenticity. Part of our continued dedication to maintain the standards forged by us over the past 100 years of our family’s trading  read more

Code: 25078

1st Edition James Bond, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, by Ian Fleming. Part of The ‘Blofeld’ Sequence. The Most Infamous Villain In The James Bond Canon. Written By Fleming at ‘Goldeneye’ Whilst Sean Connery Was Filming His First Bond, “Dr. No” Nearby

1st Edition, 1st impression. Published by London: Jonathan Cape. 1963 original cover. (1963) On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the tenth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 1 April 1963. The initial and secondary print runs sold out, with over 60,000 books sold in the first month. Fleming wrote the book in Jamaica whilst the first film in the Eon Productions series of films, Dr. No, was being filmed nearby.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the second book in what is known as the "Blofeld trilogy", which begins with Thunderball and concluded with You Only Live Twice. The story centres on Bond's ongoing search to find Ernst Stavro Blofeld after the Thunderball incident; through contact with the College of Arms in London Bond finds Blofeld based in Switzerland. After meeting him and discovering his latest plans, Bond attacks the centre where he is based, although Blofeld escapes in the confusion. Bond meets and falls in love with Contessa Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo during the story. The pair marry at the end of the story but Blofeld kills Bond's wife, hours after the ceremony.

Fleming made a number of revelations about Bond's character within the book, including showing an emotional side that was not present in the previous stories. In common with Fleming's other Bond stories, he used the names and places of people he knew or had heard of and Blofeld's research station on Piz Gloria was based on Schloss Mittersill, which the Nazis had turned into a research establishment examining the Asiatic races.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service received broadly good reviews in the British and American press. The novel was adapted to run as a three-part story in Playboy in 1963 and then as a daily comic strip in the Daily Express newspaper in 1964–1965. In 1969 the novel was adapted as the sixth film in the Eon Productions James Bond film series and was the only film to star George Lazenby as Bond. On Her Majesty's Secret Service was written in Jamaica at Fleming's Goldeneye estate in January and February 1962, whilst the first Bond film, Dr. No was being filmed nearby. The first draft of the novel was 196 pages long and called The Belles of Hell. Fleming later changed the title after being told of a nineteenth-century sailing novel called On Her Majesty's Secret Service, seen by Fleming's friend Nicholas Henderson in Portobello Road Market.

As with his previous novels, Fleming used events from his past as elements in his novel. Whilst at Kitzbühel in the 1930s, Fleming's car, a Standard Tourer, had been struck by a train at a level crossing and he had been dragged fifty yards down the track. From that time on he had associated trains with death, which led to their use as a plot device not just in The Man with the Golden Gun, but also in Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, with Love.
To demonstrate just how much all things original Bond are appreciated in the world of collectors, the Walther pistol used by Connery in the poster of From Russia With Love, in 1963, and also drawn in the man With The Golden Gun is in fact just an air pistol. A .177 (4.5mm) Walther 'LP MOD.53' Air Pistol, Serial No. 054159. That pseudo pistol was sold by Christies in 2010, with an estimate of £15,000 to £20,000, but for an incredible £277,000. {We dropped out of the bidding at a mere £22,000} Incredible in that it was never used in any film, it was just an air pistol, not a real automatic, and only ever used in promotional posters. It was 'said' to have been used by accident in fact as they couldn't find a correct Walther.
A full set of 1st edition Ian Fleming's 14 James Bond novels published by Jonathan Cape between 1953-1966 could now cost in the region of £90,000. plus Comprising: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, From Russia with Love, Dr No, Goldfinger, For Your Eyes Only, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and the Living Daylights.
The dust jacket has a few small tears, and a water stain, with first page opening at the hinge seam, but a nice rare copy considering it is over 50 years old.

Out of interest, our last example of this super Ist edition James Bond, in around the same condition, we sold as a gift for an American megastar, who is now, apparently, the most famous and biggest selling movie actor in the world.  read more

Code: 25088

James Bond Ist Edition "You Only Live Twice" Ist Issue, Fleming, Ian Published by Jonathan Cape, London, 1964

Jonathan Cape, London, 1964. the 2nd Bond book. Black Cloth with Japanese kanji . Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition:Good. First Edition. A first edition/first Impression. Throughout a jolly nice copy. "When Ernst Stavro Blofeld blasted into eternity the girl whom James Bond had married only hours before, the heart, the zest for life, went out of Bond" (from the dust-jacket). Basis for the James Bond movie with Sean Connery and Karin Dor as Bond-Girl Helga Brandt. This film is the first Bond movie to deviate from the source material. Other than the Japanese setting, and several characters, the two stories are very different. A first edition/first Impression (stating "first Published 1964" versus the second state "March 1964")
You Only Live Twice
Cinema poster showing Sean Connery as James Bond fly his monocoptor over the villains lair.
British cinema poster for You Only Live Twice.

The movie was Directed by Lewis Gilbert
Produced by Albert R. Broccoli
Harry Saltzman

Distributed by United Artists
Release date
12 June 1967 (London, premiere)
You Only Live Twice is a 1967 British spy film and the fifth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name. It is the first James Bond film to discard most of Fleming's plot, using only a few characters and locations from the book as the background for an entirely new story.

In the film, Bond is dispatched to Japan after American and Soviet manned spacecraft disappear mysteriously in orbit. With each nation blaming the other amidst the Cold War, Bond travels secretly to a remote Japanese island to find the perpetrators and comes face to face with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE. The film reveals the appearance of Blofeld, who was previously a partially unseen character. SPECTRE is working for the government of an unnamed Asian power, implied to be the People's Republic of China, to provoke war between the superpowers.

During the filming in Japan, it was announced that Sean Connery would retire from the role of Bond, but after a hiatus, he returned in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever and later 1983's non-Eon Bond film Never Say Never Again. You Only Live Twice is the first Bond film to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, who later directed the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me and the 1979 film Moonraker, both starring Roger Moore.

You Only Live Twice was a great success, receiving positive reviews and grossing over $111 million in worldwide box office.  read more

Code: 25091

1st Edition James Bond, Man with the Golden Gun, by Ian Fleming

London: Jonathan Cape 1965. 1st Edition 1st Issue. Flemings 12th outing for Commander Bond. With original dust jacket priced at 18 shillings. Cover artist Richard Chopping (Jonathan Cape ed.). The Man with the Golden Gun is the twelfth novel (and thirteenth book) of Ian Fleming's James Bond series. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on 1 April 1965, eight months after the author's death. The novel was not as detailed or polished as the others in the series, leading to poor but polite reviews. Despite that, the book was a best-seller.

The story centres on the fictional British Secret Service operative James Bond, who had been posted missing, presumed dead, after his last mission in Japan. Bond returns to England via the Soviet Union, where he had been brainwashed to attempt to assassinate his superior, M. After being "cured" by the MI6 doctors, Bond is sent to the Caribbean to find and kill Francisco Scaramanga, the titular "Man with the Golden Gun".

The first draft and part of the editing process was completed before Fleming's death and the manuscript had passed through the hands of his copy editor, William Plomer, but it was not as polished as other Bond stories. Much of the detail contained in the previous novels was missing, as this was often added by Fleming in the second draft. Publishers Jonathan Cape passed the manuscript to Kingsley Amis for his thoughts and advice on the story, although his suggestions were not subsequently used.

The novel was serialised in 1965, firstly in the Daily Express and then in Playboy; in 1966 a daily comic strip adaptation was also published in the Daily Express. In 1974 the book was loosely adapted as the ninth film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, with Roger Moore playing Bond and Fleming's cousin, Christopher Lee, as Scaramanga.
The Man with the Golden Gun film was filmed in 1974 the ninth film entry in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. A loose adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel of the same name, the film has Bond sent after the Solex Agitator, a device that can harness the power of the sun, while facing the assassin Francisco Scaramanga, the "Man with the Golden Gun". The action culminates in a duel between them that settles the fate of the Solex.

The Man with the Golden Gun was the fourth and final film in the series directed by Guy Hamilton. The script was written by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz. The film was set in the face of the 1973 energy crisis, a dominant theme in the script. Britain had still not yet fully overcome the crisis when the film was released in December 1974. The film also reflects the then popular martial arts film craze, with several kung fu scenes and a predominantly Asian location, being set and shot in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Macau. Part of the film is also set in Beirut, Lebanon, but it was not shot there. Ian Fleming wrote The Man with the Golden Gun at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica in January and February 1964, completing it by the beginning of March. His health affected him badly during the writing process and he dropped from his usual rate of two thousand words a morning to a little over an hour's worth of work a day.

As with his previous novels, Fleming used events from his past as elements in his novel. Whilst at Kitzbühel in the 1930s, Fleming's car, a Standard Tourer, had been struck by a train at a level crossing and he had been dragged fifty yards down the track. From that time on he had associated trains with death, which led to their use as a plot device not just in The Man with the Golden Gun, but also in Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, with Love. To show just how much all things original Bond are appreciated in the world of collectors the Walther pistol used by Connery in the poster of From Russia With Love, in 1963, and also drawn in the man With The Golden Gun poster as shown here an air pistol, .177 (4.5mm) Walther 'LP MOD.53' Air Pistol, Serial No. 054159, was sold by Christies in 2010 with an estimate of £15,000 to £20,000 for an incredible £277,000. We dropped out of the bidding at £22,000 Incredible in that it was never used in any film, was an air pistol not a real automatic, and only used in promotional posters. It was 'said' to have been used by accident in fact as they couldn't find a correct Walther PPK on the day of the photoshoot.  read more

Code: 25092

A Simply Stunning 19th Century Crimean War British Coldstream Guards, Battle of Alma period, Senior Officer's Regimental Gothic Hilt Sword

A beautiful sword, made by Andrews of Pall Mall London, with traditional WR IVth cypher Gothic hilt, sharkskin bound grip and pipeback combat blade with regimental badge of the Coldstream Guards, plus the cypher of King William IVth. It is set in its senior officer's field rank scabbard, and just as used by a field officer [major and above] in The Crimean War, in the Coldstream Guards, and at the Battle of Alma. This below is taken from a letter sent from the Crimea by a Coldstream officer.

Bivouac, River Alma, 21 September 1854
I hasten to write a few lines to tell you I am safe and sound, knowing how anxious you will be, after hearing that we have had an action with the Russians.At about 12 o'clock on the 20th, on crowning a ridge, we came all at once in sight of the Russian army, in an entrenched camp beyond the Alma, distant about three miles. Immediately we appeared they set fire to a village between us and them so as to mask their force by the smoke.

We continued advancing steadily, halting occasionally to rest the men, till half-past one, when the first shot was fired, and soon after the rattle of musketry told us that our rifle skirmishers were engaged. Our division then deployed into line, and we stood so for about twenty minutes, an occasional round shot rolling up to us, but so spent that one was able to step aside from it. Wounded men from the front soon began to be carried through our lines to the rear, and loose and wounded horses began to gallop about.

At last we were ordered to advance, which we did for about 300 yards nearer the batteries, and halted, and the men lay down. We were now well within range, and the round shot fell tolerably thick, an occasional shell bursting over our heads.

After standing steady for about twenty minutes, the light division (who were in line in front of us) advanced again, and we followed.

The Russians had put posts to mark the ranges, which they had got with great accuracy. We now advanced to within 200 yards of the river and 700 from the batteries, and halted under a low wall for five minutes, till we saw the light division over the river, when we continued our advance in support of them. On crossing the wall we came into vineyards, and here the cannonade was most terrific, the grape and canister falling around us like hail - the flash of each gun being instantly followed by the splash of grape among the tilled ground like a handful of gravel thrown into a pool.

On reaching the river, the fire from a large body of riflemen was added, but the men dashed through, up to their middle in water, and halted on the opposite side to re-form their ranks, under shelter of a high bank. At this moment the light division had gained the intrenchment, and the British colour was planted in the fort; but, ammunition failing them, they were forced back.

The Scots Fusiliers were hurried on to support them before they had time to reform themselves, and the 23rd, retiring in some confusion upon them, threw them for a few minutes into utter disorder. The Russians, perceiving this, dashed out of the fort upon them, and a frightful struggle took place which ended in their total discomfiture.

For a minute or two the Scots Fusilier colours stood alone in the front, while General Bentinck rallied the men to them, their officers leading them on gallantly.

At this moment I rode off to the Coldstream, through whose ranks the light division had retired, leaving them the front line. They advanced up the hill splendidly, with the Highlanders on their left, and not a shot did they fire till within 150 or 200 yards from the intrenchments. A battery of 18 and 24 pounders was in position in our front, and a swarm of riflemen behind them. Fortunately the enemy's fire was much too high, passing close over our heads, the men who were killed being all hit on the crown of the head, and the Coldstream actually lost none. When we got about fifty yards from the intrenchment, the enemy turned tail, leaving us masters of the battery and the day.

As they retired they took all their guns except two, and a great many of their wounded. In spite of this the ground was covered with dead and dying, lying in heaps in every direction on what might be called the glacis, and inside the intrenchments they were so thick that one could hardly avoid riding over them; but the excitement of the victory stifled for the time all feeling of horror for such a scene, and it was not till this morning when I visited the battle-field, that I could at all realise the horrors which must be the price of such a day. Most fervently did I thank God, who had preserved me amidst such dangers. How I escaped seems to me the more marvellous the more I think of it. Though on horseback (on my old charger), my cocked-hat and clothes were sprinkled all over with blood.

The loss of the Brigade of Guards is very severe, but the proportion of deaths to wounded is extraordinarily small. On calling the roll after the action, 312 rank and file and fifteen officers were discovered to be killed and wounded.

Besides there was my poor friend Horace Cust, who was struck by a round shot in crossing the river. He was aide-de-camp to General Bentinck, and we were watering our horses at the time when the shot struck his horse in the shoulder and smashed poor Cust's thigh. He died soon after the leg was amputated. Charles Baring, who has lost his arm (taken out of the socket) is the only other Coldstream officer hit. They only went into action with sixteen officers, less than half their complement.

We have been occupied the whole day in burying the dead. About 1000 were laid in the ditch of the fort, and the earthen parapet was then thrown back upon them. We find that the whole garrison of Sebastopol were before us, under Mentschikoff in person. His carriage has fallen into our hands, and in it a letter stating that Sebastopol could hold out a long time against us, but that there was a position at Alma which could hold out three weeks. We took it in three hours.

So convinced were they of the impossibility of our taking it that ladies were actually there as spectators, little expecting the review they were destined to be spectators of. We expect now to find no resistance whatever at the Katcha river, the whole Russian force having retired into Sebastopol. We always turn out at four o'clock in the morning, an hour before daybreak. This is a superb and historical sword. When originally purchased it would have had a junior officer's leather and brass scabbard, but, its use in a 'field rank pattern' scabbard, of all brass, would have been granted to the officer, upon his promotion from captain to major, in the regiment and thence forward to colonel if greater promotion was achieved. Small combat denting to the scabbard. There are few swords just as this superb example in the museum collection, and they appear in the book of the Artifacts of the Crimean War, "Crimean Memories", by Hutchinson, Vice, & Small  read more

Code: 23428

1st Edition James Bond, Octopussy & The Living Daylights, by Ian Fleming

1st Edition, 1st Impression second issue jacket. Published by Jonathan Cape, 1966. Octopussy and The Living Daylights (sometimes published as Octopussy) is the fourteenth and final James Bond book written by Ian Fleming in the Bond series. The book is a collection of short stories published posthumously in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 23 June 1966.

The book originally contained just two stories, "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights", with subsequent editions also carrying firstly "The Property of a Lady" and then "007 in New York". The stories were first published in different publications, with "Octopussy" first serialised in the Daily Express in October 1965. "The Living Daylights" had first appeared in The Sunday Times on 4 February 1962; "The Property of a Lady" was published in November 1963 in a Sotheby's publication, The Ivory Hammer, whilst "007 in New York" first appeared in the New York Herald Tribune in October 1963.

The two original stories, "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights", were both adapted for publication in comic strip format in the Daily Express in 1966–1967. Elements from the stories have also been used in the Eon Productions Bond films. The first, Octopussy, starring Roger Moore as James Bond, was released in 1983 as the thirteenth film in the series and provided the back story for the film Octopussy's family, while "The Property of a Lady" was more closely adapted for an auction sequence in the film. The Living Daylights, released in 1987, was the fifteenth Bond film produced by Eon and starred Timothy Dalton in his first appearance as Bond.On the morning of 12 August 1964, Fleming died of a heart attack; eight months later, The Man with the Golden Gun was published.8 The rights to Fleming's works were held by Glidrose Productions (now Ian Fleming Publications) and it was decided by the company that two short stories, "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights", would be published in 1966The story "Octopussy" was written in early 1962 at Fleming's Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. The story is told in the manner of "Quantum of Solace", with Bond as catalyst for story told in flashback, rather than as a main character for action. Fleming originally titled "The Living Daylights" as "Trigger Finger", although when it first appeared, in The Sunday Times colour supplement of 4 February 1962, it was under the title of "Berlin Escape". It was also published in the June 1962 issue of the American magazine Argosy under the same name
As with his previous novels, Fleming used events from his past as elements in his novel. Whilst at Kitzbühel in the 1930s, Fleming's car, a Standard Tourer, had been struck by a train at a level crossing and he had been dragged fifty yards down the track. From that time on he had associated trains with death, which led to their use as a plot device not just in The Man with the Golden Gun, but also in Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, with Love. To show just how much all things original Bond are appreciated in the world of collectors the Walther pistol used by Connery in the poster of From Russia With Love, in 1963, and also drawn in the man With The Golden Gun poster as shown here an air pistol, .177 (4.5mm) Walther 'LP MOD.53' Air Pistol, Serial No. 054159, was sold by Christies in 2010 with an estimate of £15,000 to £20,000 for an incredible £277,000. We dropped out of the bidding at £22,000 Incredible in that it was never used in any film, was an air pistol not a real automatic, and only used in promotional posters. It was 'said' to have been used by accident in fact as they couldn't find a correct Walther.. A full set of 1st edition Ian Fleming's 14 James Bond novels published by Jonathan Cape between 1953-1966 could now cost in the region of £90,000. Comprising: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, From Russia with Love, Dr No, Goldfinger, For Your Eyes Only, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and the Living Daylights.  read more

Code: 25090

The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming First Edition Jonathan Cape 1962. The Vivienne Michel Novel.

Double-page illustration at pp. 6-7. First edition, first impression. This is the only Bond book to be written in the first person, presented as the testimony of a 23-year-old Canadian woman with whom Bond has an ill-fated affair. To further this pretence, Vivienne Michel gets a spurious credit on the title page as co-author. A Central character and narrator is "Vivienne Michel, " a young Canadian woman who ends up running a cheap motel in the Adirondack Mountains to pay for a trip through America. When issued, it was banned in some countries as the most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels. Basis for the movie with Roger Moore in his third James Bond role, Barbara Bach as Major Anya Amasova (Agent Triple X) and Curd Jürgens as Karl Stromberg; film adaptation was produced in 1977 .

About; The Spy Who Loved Me

‘He was about six feet tall, slim and fit. The eyes in the lean, slightly tanned face were a very clear grey-blue and as they observed the men they were cold and watchful. His good looks had a dangerous, almost cruel quality that had frightened me. But now I knew he could smile, I thought his face exciting, in a way no face had ever excited me before …’ Vivienne Michel is in trouble. Trying to escape her tangled past, she has run away to the American backwoods, winding up at the Dreamy Pines Motor Court. A far cry from the privileged world she was born to, the motel is also the destination of two hardened killers—the perverse Sol Horror and the deadly Sluggsy Morant. When a coolly charismatic Englishman turns up, Viv, in terrible danger, is not just hopeful, but fascinated. Because he is James Bond, 007; the man she hopes will save her, the spy she hopes will love her

Octavo. Original dark grey boards, spine lettered in silver, dagger design stamped on front cover in silver and blind, red endpapers. With dust jacket, small tears on the jacket with light staining.  read more

Code: 25093