English author (1908-1964). Typed letter signed „Ian Fleming“. London. 8vo. 1 p. Mounted to cardboard.
$ 6,964 / 6.500 €
(93346)
ITo „H.L. Sjostrom Esq“: „How very kind of you to have sent me that charming picture of the Bentley. It was an extremely generous action and the picture will have a proud place in my office. Incidentally, the background is the Haymarket theatre in London and very well done too, but I doubt if the two gentlemen in the front seats would be able to keep their top hats on for very long in such a car, and the smart chauffer in the back would be more suitable in a Rolls. Anyway thank you again most warmly for a kindly thought”.
Much like the super spy he created, Fleming led an exciting life of international intrigue and mystery. A spy himself during World War II, Fleming based the Bond character off of spies and other individuals he acted with during the war. The obsession with cars shared here by Fleming and a defining feature of Bond is supposedly based off of Wilfred Albert "Biffy" Dunderdale, station head of MI6 in Paris who was chauffeured around in a Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce Limited was a British company that manufactured both the Rolls-Royce and the Bentley in the middle of the twentieth century. The Fleming letter is paired with a photograph of Fleming looking 007-esque in a tuxedo with a cigarette in his hand..