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'Miss Moneypenny' letters up for auction
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| BOND COLLECTION: Amy Brennan of Duke's with the James Bond' letters which are going under the hammer. Inset one of the letters with Ian Fleming's signature |
LETTERS revealing the help that the real-life Miss Moneypenny gave James Bond author Ian Fleming are being auctioned in Dorchester.
Correspondence between the author and typist Jean Frampton shows how he encouraged her to suggest improvements to the storylines by applying her 'quick eye and mind' to his manuscripts.
Letters between Mrs Frampton and Fleming's secretaries are also included in the lot being sold by Duke's auction house on April 10 as part of a two-day sale. The lot has an estimate of £2,000 to £3,000.
The letters show how the author relied increasingly on Mrs Frampton, who became a sub-editor working on his books.
In one letter to Mrs Frampton, written on paper headed with his Fleet Street address on March 31, 1960, Fleming wrote: "I have written a full-length James Bond story, provisionally called Thunderball..."
It continues: "I am afraid this is not a good typescript and I would be deeply obliged if you would apply your usual keen mind to any points - absolutely any - that might help the book get into shape."
He adds: "I only ask you to undertake it because your occasional comments on the work you have done for me have been so helpful.
"Anything that your quick eye and mind falls upon, however critical and in whatever aspect of the writing, would be endlessly welcome.
"I am sorry to have to pass on to you a rather half-baked job..."
In one letter, Mrs Frampton wrote: "I still regret the end of 'Thunderball', as my naive and literal mind would like to know what exactly happened to the Disco and the rest of her crew and the bombs, how Domino escaped, and of course, what about Blofeld (or does he live to fight another day?)"
Mrs Frampton's bill for typing and sub-editing the Thunderball novel - a total of £8.12.6d. - is included in the lot. The letters from Frampton to Fleming also refer to other Bond books including The Man With The Golden Gun, You Only Live Twice and A View To A Kill.
The collection includes four signed letters by Fleming and numerous letters to his secretaries Griffie-Williams and Una Trueblood, as well as Mrs Frampton.
Amy Brenan, from Duke's, said: "We have definitely chosen the right time to sell the collection as it corresponds with the release of the new James Bond book by Sebastian Faulks and it is 100 years since Fleming's birth.
"Bond enthusiasts will be in abundance at the sale and already we've had a lot of interest in the correspondence.
"You can look on Mrs Frampton as Ian Fleming's Miss Moneypenny because he really does seem to rely on her.
"She was the first person to read the books and the collection is interesting because it details how the James Bond books were put together in the early 1960s.
"Obviously James Bond is known around the world and these documents relate to a time when he was just being created."
8:56am Wednesday 26th March 2008
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CommentPosted by: gerard e lehner, woodstock,ny 12498 on 11:25am Sat 29 Mar 08
Hello,something of a collector,can letters and other items be useful to pyschics? Waking up ambition and possible assets...
Hello,something of a collector,can letters and other items be useful to pyschics? Waking up ambition and possible assets...
Posted by: gerard e lehner, woodstock,ny 12498 on 11:53am Sat 29 Mar 08
I would have liked to known of this auction sooner, finding out what the Daily Mail printed wednesday Mar26, while boarding flt.ai111 thursday . I had walked away from being hit by a car in Bath,while photographing a black plastic bag caught in a tree.against the morning sky. Oddly as an artist,it ,the tree stands behind the art academy down the hill. My collection includes Bonds with the cast inclusive Steinbeck,humorously H,Carter, religously and the Wright brothers loftily. The driver of the blue car was performing a blind alley turn in reverse and didn't offer the cleaning bill for the tire tracks on my trousers. I had spent the previous night at a B&B in Bradford on-Avon,researching for my auto biography,as I sent letters here 30years earlier to the pretty girl who wore Vitorian cordoroy dresses.Her father had worked on the Johnny Carson set,all the signatures,I gave away.Like an artist...
I would have liked to known of this auction sooner, finding out what the Daily Mail printed wednesday Mar26, while boarding flt.ai111 thursday . I had walked away from being hit by a car in Bath,while photographing a black plastic bag caught in a tree.against the morning sky. Oddly as an artist,it ,the tree stands behind the art academy down the hill. My collection includes Bonds with the cast inclusive Steinbeck,humorously H,Carter, religously and the Wright brothers loftily. The driver of the blue car was performing a blind alley turn in reverse and didn't offer the cleaning bill for the tire tracks on my trousers. I had spent the previous night at a B&B in Bradford on-Avon,researching for my auto biography,as I sent letters here 30years earlier to the pretty girl who wore Vitorian cordoroy dresses.Her father had worked on the Johnny Carson set,all the signatures,I gave away.Like an artist...
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