Thunderball Fleming, Ian Lancaster (1908-1964) James Bond 007

[Spy thriller] FIRST EDITION, Binding 'A'. An association copy, formerly belonging to Sefton Delmer, a fellow intelligence agent, journalist colleague and close friend of Ian Fleming. Delmer bookplate (Valley Farm) to pastedown. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.254; [2], bank. Publisher's cloth-effect paper over boards with embossed skeleton hand design to upper board, gilt titles to spine, dust-wrapper illustrated by Richard Chopping, priced at 15s. A used copy with some spotting and toning, jacket worn with some browning to spine, tape ghosting to flaps and endpapers where once secured. Small closed tear to jacket spine. Housed in a custom-made clamshell box. A significant association. Provenance: Tom Sefton Delmer OBE (1904-79), journalist and wartime propagandist for P.W.E. The young reporters Delmer and Fleming met in Moscow in the 'thirties and they would soon work closely together in Naval Intelligence. After the war, they took similar career paths, with Delmer becoming Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for the Daily Express and Fleming joining The Sunday Times as their Foreign Manager. In a typed statement, Sefton Delmer records "He [Fleming] was the godfather of my son. 'Call him Felix' he had said, 'there are too many Felix's in this world'. And he followed his own advice by creating an American partner for James Bond called Felix Leiter" [source: Ian Fleming Bibliographical Archive]. This copy was originally sold with all Delmer's copies of the Bond novels [Bonhams, London, 2009], purchased by bibliographer Jon Gilbert for his Fleming Archive, where this copy has remained since. Gilbert A9a (1.1).