Ian Fleming's 'Miss Moneypenny' Revealed
Ian Fleming
Letters between James Bond creator Ian Fleming and his typist Jean Frampton reveal the latter’s close relationship with the world of 007.
The BBC News reports that a collection of four signed letters from Fleming will be going up for auction next month on 10 April as a way of marking the centenary of the author.
In one of the letters to go up for sale, dated 31 March, 1960, Fleming asks Frampton to use her ‘keen mind’ to help get his then current Bond novel, Thunderball ‘into shape’.
Anything your quick eye falls upon… would be endlessly welcome,’ he added.
‘You can look on Mrs Frampton as Ian Fleming’s Miss Moneypenny,’ said Amy Brenan of Duke’s auctioneers in Dorset, which is offering the letters for sale.
While Frampton is believed to have never actually met Fleming face to face, the letters reveal that she often offered pointers on plot and literary style while being hired to type the manuscripts of the author’s Bond adventures.
‘Your occasional comments on the work you have done for me have been so helpful,’ wrote Fleming.
Besides her assistance on 1961’s Thunderball, the letters reveal that Frampton also correspondended with Fleming on You Only Live Twice and The Man with the Golden Gun as well.
‘The collection is interesting because it details how the James Bond books were put together in the early 1960s,’ said Ms Brenan.
Also included are letters written by Mrs Frampton and Fleming’s secretaries, Una Trueblood and Beryl Griffie-Williams. The entire collection is expected to sell for £2,000 – £3,000.
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