F I N E B O O K S & M A N U S C R I P T S
Fleming’s Notes For The Fifth Bond Novel
47. Autograph Notes For From Russia With Love FLEMING, Ian [1955]. Notepad (275 x 198 mm) in stiff wrappers with the emblems of the Internation- al Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) and the Turkish Criminal Police Commission printed in dark blue to front paper wrapper and at head of each leaf. The initial three pages (rectos only) containing autograph notes in blue ink by Fleming. Together with a foolscap bifolium (336 x 210 mm) of lined paper, with a further three pages of auto- graph notes by Fleming in blue ink. The notepad in very good condition with a few light marks and two short closed tears to the wrappers. The bifoliate sheet shows a lit- tle spotting to the outside edge and a short closed tear at the edge of a central horizon- tal crease. Some pencilled notes to the documents from John Pearson’s prior research. [42582] £97,500 Fleming’s outline notes from attending the conference of International Criminal Police Commis- sion, the precursor to Interpol, in Turkey in 1955, which he was to use as source material for From Russia With Love. Fleming travelled to Istanbul in the company of Sir Ronald Howe (Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard) to cover the conference for the Sunday Times. Though Fleming commented later that the conference was rather boring- “The trouble with these policemen is that they have no idea what is really interesting in their jobs and regard criminal matters as really a great bore,” (Letter to Admiral Godfrey, 1955). Nevertheless, the notes show Fleming paying close attention to the intelligence community and especially the Russians. It would appear that the plot and characters of From Russia With Love had already taken meaningful form in Fleming’s mind and that he went to the conference seeking the answers and details which would lend verisimilitude to his prose. The notebook contains a series of details on which he appears to be seeking clarification, including “Noise of telephone bell. Types of cigarettes, cigars. Black Sea villa - where, description, swear-words. In conversa- tion-polite? Harsh?... Smells in Moscow... How to address Bela Kleb?... is tea brought into meet- ings?... Kleb uniform, Central records?... Russian girls love Englishman - what for - what dislikes. Sexually prudish”. Later, Fleming starts to build up character profiles for the novel. “Tatiana Romanova. darling? Speak French? Learning to be a spy...” There is also a couple of paragraphs, struck through by Fleming, which found their way, almost verbatim, into chapters 14 and 19 of the final text of From Russia with Love . “Kerim had a wonderfully warm dry handclasp. It was a strong Western handful of operative fingers. Not the banana skin handshake of the bazaars that makes you want to wipe your fingers on your coat-tails... Some ship going up the Bosphorus into the Black Sea prowled like in the night like something in a zoo, a sleepless animal” The separate sheets give information on the history of the Russian Secret Service, “Smersh part of MGB... BYVSHY - former people... two rooms flat with mother in an M.G.B. house SA - DOYAYA-SPASSKAYA... 8 storey 2000 rooms 190 roubles per month...”, and Russian culture, “no women smoke not well regarded. Hair very important. Puritanical sexually. No lipstick. Good clean nails... girls must have scent”. There are also some of the answers to the questions from the notebooks, “8 telephones, white high-frequency... hissing noise. soft bells... allow me - general. hold forward hand. dry + official
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