Ian Fleming (association) | A group of 3 volumes inscribed by Fleming

A group of 3 volumes inscribed by Ian Fleming, comprising:

(1) Humbert Wolfe. Humoresque. London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1926. 8vo, FIRST EDITION, fourth impression, WITH THE OWNERSHIP INSCRIPTION OF THE YOUNG IAN FLEMING ("Ian Fleming. | 1926.") to front free endpaper, original black cloth, printed paper label to spine, top edge tinted black, others uncut, housed in custom black gilt-ruled cloth case, endleaves slightly browned

Featuring the ownership inscription of the 17-18-year-old Ian Fleming, giving a tantalising insight into his literary tastes as a teenager. Wolfe, best known for his 1916 lyric "Requiem: The Soldier" (read at Remembrance Day services) was one of the best-selling poets of the 1920s.

(2) William Hoyle. Hoyle's Hymns and Songs For Temperance Societies & Bands of Hope. London: S. W. Partridge and Co, c. 1890. INSCRIBED BY FLEMING TO HIS GOLFING PARTNER ("Swing it! | Ian."), 8vo, original black morocco, spine lettered in gilt, upper cover design gilt, edges gilt, housed in custom black gilt-ruled cloth case, spine slightly rubbed and bumped

INSCRIBED BY FLEMING TO HIS FRIEND AND GOLFING PARTNER RANDAL HUGH "HUGHIE" VIVIAN SMITH (1898-1968). Ian and Hughie became friends in 1935 whilst holidaying in Le Touquet, following an introduction by Hughie's wife Lady Helen Dorothy Primrose (granddaughter of Lord Rosebery). Hughie secured Ian a job at Rowe & Pitman, though Hughie would come to describe him as "among the world's worst stockbrokers". Their friendship continued, both on and off the golf course.

(3) H. A. Rey. Zebrology. London: Chatto & Windus, 1953. Fourth printing, folio, INSCRIBED BY FLEMING ("Clare. | A Christmas Thought | from | Ian."), cream card covers, tied gold thread binding, housed in custom black gilt-ruled cloth case by Temple Bookbinders, plastic wallet containing associated ephemera loosely inserted in case (list of ephemera available upon request), covers browned, tape repair to lower portion of backstrip

WARMLY INSCRIBED BY FLEMING TO CLARE BLANSHARD, one of the first readers of the manuscript of Casino Royale, who famously advised Fleming not to publish his debut Bond novel, or at least do so under a pseudonym. Fleming first met Blanshard in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1944. The nature of their longstanding relationship has been subject to much speculation, with several biographers suggesting that the pair were lovers, though this view is not shared by Nicholas Shakespeare in his 2023 biography of Fleming.

PROVENANCE:

(1) Ian Fleming: ownership inscription to front free endpaper; Peter Fleming (Ian's brother); (2) presented by Fleming to Randal Hugh Vivian Smith (1898); by descent; sold Bloomsbury, 27 July 2016, lot 197; (3) presented by Ian Fleming to Clare Blanshard; given by Blanshard to Raymond Benson (author of James Bond Bedside Companion (1984)); given by Benson to a private collector

LITERATURE:

For Fleming's relationship with Clare Blanshard: John Pearson, The Life of Ian Fleming, (1966), p. 217; Fergus Fleming (ed.), The Man With The Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters (London, 2015), p. 14; Nicholas Shakespeare, Ian Fleming: The Complete Man (London, 2023) pp. xvi-xvii, xxvi, 304, 325-6, 388, 426, 483, 485, 494-5, 519, 523, 587