Ian Fleming’s biographer John Pearson, discussing inaccuracies in the book. William Stephenson (1897–1989) was Winston Churchill’s head of British Intelligence for the entire western hemisphere during World War II, known by his wartime intelligence codename “Intrepid”. He was one of the few people in the hemisphere authorized to view the raw “Ultra” codebreaking transcripts of the German Enigma ciphers from Bletchley Park (aka Station X), where Fleming was a liaison officer and which contributed greatly to the Allied success in defeating U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic. After Pearl Harbour and America’s entry into the war, Stephenson formed the covert operations Camp X in Whitby, Ontario, where Allied agents from the SOE, OSS, and FBI were trained to be dropped behind enemy lines as saboteurs and spies. Graduates of Camp X included five future directors of the CIA and, reputedly, Ian Fleming. The title page carries the inscription “Property of Arch Whitehouse – presented by Sir William Stephenson – Bermuda, 1965.” Arch Whitehouse (1895–1979), the military aviation expert, former dog-fight ace, and popular author of numerous flying adventures, worked with Ian Fleming when he was an intelligence operative during World War II. The telegram recipient is John Pearson (born 1930), Ian Fleming’s assistant at the Sunday Times, who would go on to write the first major biography of Fleming, and later the Glidrose-sanctioned fictional biography of James Bond (1973). The telegram, dated 6 September 1965, states “It may be just as well that t.m.w.t.g.g. was vagabond’s swan song of the series because there is some confusion as to the area of James’s authorized operations and trespass upon fields jealously confined to police including Interpol. efbeeeye (f.b.i.), etc. stop And incidentally there are no – repeat no – snakes in Jamaica – and have not been for many years as result of import of mongoose to destroy rats in the sugarcane fields stop Your own visit there should make it superfluous for me to elaborate stop Greetings, intrepid”. Octavo. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. Housed in a custom black morocco-backed folding box. Extremities slightly bumped, minor foxing to top edge; a near-fine copy. Dust jacket rubbed and slightly toned, a near-fine and unclipped example. ¶ Gilbert A13a(2); The Schøyen Collection No. 105. £6,000 [155948]
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In the accompanying letter, Fleming congratulates Arthur’s son, C. G. Hawkes, on his decision to join the City of London Police. He confirms he has asked his friend Sir Ronald Howe, Deputy Commissioner of Scotland Yard, to support the application. Howe featured in the James Bond universe as Inspector Ronnie Vallance of Special Branch, who first appears in the present work and again in Diamonds are Forever (1956). Fleming concludes the letter, “with kind regards to your father who has been of constant assistance to me in my golfing career!” Moonraker was first published in hardback the previous year. Octavo. Original illustrated wrappers. Half-title detached and now laid in, its edges nicked, large tear to outer margin with minimal loss to tail of the “g” in Fleming’s signature, annotations on verso relating to BBC’s Animal Magic show. Housed in a custom box. Wrappers bright, a little rubbing at edges, short split to foot of front joint, toning to contents as expected, otherwise clean; a far from ideal copy, presumably having been shown many times by the recipient. ¶ Gilbert A3a (16.1); The Schøyen Collection No. 24. £5,oo0 [155889] 53 FLEMING, Ian. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. London: Jonathan Cape, 1963 A FINE UNCORRECTED PROOF Uncorrected proof copy in proof jacket. One of just 500 proof copies. The proof of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
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has more errors and required more amendments than any other Fleming title. The dust jacket shows variations to the blurb over the published version, including a Soviet newspaper blurb to the rear panel, which is exclusive to the proof. Octavo. Original green wrappers with the publisher’s device repeated in white, spine and front wrapper lettered in black. With proof dust jacket. Housed in a custom chemise and blue morocco-backed slipcase. Minor staining to spine with minor tear to head; a near-fine copy. Dust jacket trimmed to size of proof with minor loss to head of spine; a very good example of the jacket. ¶ Gilbert A11a, pp. 354–6; The Schøyen Collection No. 82. £6,750 [155927] 54 FLEMING, Ian. The Man with the Golden Gun. London: Jonathan Cape, 1965 A SUPERB ASSOCIATION COPY: FROM “THE REAL JAMES BOND” First edition, second impression, presentation copy from Sir William Stephenson, CC, MC, DFC (“The Real James Bond”, as Fleming once referred to him), to flying ace Arthur George Joseph “Arch” Whitehouse, MM, who had served under him. It is accompanied by a telegram from Stephenson to
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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