Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1964)

The first edition is not one book but three thin hardback volumes of about 48 pages each, numbered as adventures 1, 2 and 3. Cape published volume 1 on 22 October 1964, volume 2 on 26 November 1964 and volume 3 on 14 January 1965, so a complete first set carries two different years. Each volume is bound in pictorial paper boards that copy John Burningham's jacket design, so a copy without its jacket looks almost the same as one with it. Each jacket was priced 10s. 6d. net. Most copies were bought by adults as presents for children and had the price cut off, so an unclipped jacket is harder to find than for Fleming's other books and adds value. Check the copyright page for any later impression; Collecting Fleming illustrates the first edition jacket and copyright page for comparison. The story first appeared in one volume as a Pan paperback in July 1968, and the American Random House edition of 1964 was a single volume, so neither is the UK first. Fleming died in August 1964, two months before volume 1 appeared.