From The Express

A rare set of James Book books, each inscribed by Ian Fleming, is being sold for £500,000.

Fleming sent presentation copies with witty messages to collaborators, friends and former lovers.

One of those was alleged mistress Sarah Dugdale who received a copy of Dr No from the married Fleming who wrote: "Sarah I'm sure you'll enjoy this, Mabel.” He may have used Mabel as an alias to conceal his extramarital affair.

Fleming sent a copy of Goldfinger to his golfing friends Albert and Cecil Whiting who were fellow members of Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent. The 1958 novel contains a memorable scene in which 007 takes on Auric Goldfinger in a game of golf.
A copy of Casino Royale was inscribed with a reference to the M character. Fleming wrote: "To M, these pages from my memoirs! Ian."

He dedicated a first edition of Live And Let Die to his ex-girlfriend Clare Blanchard, a co-worker at the Kemsley Group of newspapers and early reader of Casino Royale.

The inscription reads: "To Clare who sheds much light. With love Ian 1954."
Fleming sent a copy of From Russia With Love to artist Richard Chopping, who designed the dust jackets.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service was given to Amherst Villiers, who painted the limited edition's title page portrait, while You Only Live Twice was inscribed "to Jonathan from Ian". The identity of the recipient is not known.
The only books not signed by Fleming are The Man With The Golden Gun and Octopussy And The Living Daylights, published after his death in 1964.

The set, amassed over 10 years by a mystery collector, is on sale at the Masterpiece London Art Fair, held by dealer Peter Harrington.
The dealer's Pom Harrington said: "It would be rare to find a collection with so many great inscriptions. It took a decade to build with the collector. He enjoyed the thrill of the chase, and so did we!"

From The Daily Telegraph

When Ian Fleming gave a presentation copy of You Only Live Twice, his James Bond classic, to a close friend, it could not have been a more appropriate gift as an espionage novel. The recipient was the former CIA director Allen Dulles, who is mentioned by name in that book.

The creator of one of the most iconic characters in 20th-century literature added a mock-Japanese inscription that alludes to a plot in which 007 is sent to Japan: “To Celestial Dulles-San from Miserable Fleming-San”. The inscription reflected a friendship between two men who had both held senior positions in their nation’s respective intelligence agencies and who both inspired the other’s work.

Now that copy is likely to excite collectors of Bond memorabilia as it has been acquired by Peter Harrington, leading antiquarian booksellers in London. Such is its rarity that it will be offered for sale at £27,500.

Dulles headed the CIA from 1953 to 1961. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War and, research by Christopher Moran, an expert in US national security, suggests that he was fascinated by Fleming’s fictional spy. While real-life CIA agents tried to copy Bond-style technology and gadgets - including the poison-tipped dagger shoes worn by a villain in From Russia With Love - Dulles in turn influenced Fleming's writing about US intelligence agencies. 

In You Only Live Twice, M mentions Dulles by name in complaining that the CIA has stopped revealing information to MI6: “They regard that as their private preserve. When Allen Dulles was in charge, we used at least to get digests of any stuff that concerned us, but this new man McCone has cracked down on all that.”

The two men first met in 1959, dining together in London. They hit it off immediately, and the friendship lasted until Fleming’s death in 1964.

Bookseller Pom Harrington said: “Bond offered popular respect for the CIA's work, especially at a time when the Soviet shooting down of the U-2 Spy plane and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion under Dulles's watch - he had to resign over the latter - led to claims that the agency was ineffective and poorly run.”
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He added: “After Dulles's death, the CIA impounded his private papers, finding with some shock that in Dulles and Fleming's correspondence the former revealed much sensitive information to the latter, and that Dulles actively sought Fleming's advice on intelligence matters… The relationship between Dulles and Fleming shows that real intelligence also finds inspiration in spy fiction, for their public presentation, for technologies, and for their heroic self-image. It dispels the notion that Bond is a subject of interest purely to fans and critics of popular culture and not one worthy of study by historians.”

A treasure trove of rare Ian Fleming books and manuscripts has just gone on sale via British design company Mason & Sons.

The collection of first editions - many of them signed by Fleming - includes Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice and more.

Aside from the novels, there is a collection of personal correspondence between Fleming and a young Austrian girlfgriend, Edith Maria Thonet, a copy of the address given at Fleming's funeral, lithographs, original advertising artwork and a stunning recreation of the attache case Bond uses in From Russia, With Love.

The incredibly rare items are part of a portfolio called "Bonding with Dad", which Mason & Sons have launched ahead of Father's Day on June 21st. Also for sale are prints and posters, and a wide selection of Bond related clothing.

You can see the full collection at https://masonandsons.com/