EVER since the author Ian Fleming immortalised the name “James Bond” in his 1953 novel “Casino Royale” and Hollywood turned his suave spy into a franchise spanning decades, it has been claimed that he “borrowed” the name of a real person.
Indeed, it has also been claimed that the real-life James Bond was himself an author.
Is any of this true?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Yes, this is in fact true; there is – or rather was – a real James Bond, and he was as far removed from a super-spy on Her Majesty’s Secret Service as one can be.
In fact, according to an account published in the official magazine of the Smithsonian Institution, the real James Bond was in fact an American expert on birds and Fleming himself had one of Bond’s books in his collection.
"The book was Birds of the West Indies, published in 1936 after Bond had spent a decade exploring the islands of the Caribbean.
"The 460-page field guide, which features 159 black-and-white illustrations, became the go-to resource for Fleming, who lived in Jamaica, and many others,” said writer and nature photographer Jim Wright in his article.
He went on to add that while the real Bond did not care much for Fleming’s works or the movies featuring the spy of the same name, his wife reached out to the British author about this to say that he had “brazenly taken the name of a real human being for your rascal!”
“Fleming came clean in a letter to Mary Bond and made three generous offers. He gave Bond unlimited use of the name Ian Fleming for any purpose he may think fit,” said Wright.
He added that in a quirk of British humour, Fleming had suggested that Bond “discover a horrible new species and christen [it in] insulting fashion as a way of getting back.”
Wright then adds that the two finally met in Jamaica in 1964, saying that it wasn’t a live-and-let-die case once Fleming was assured that Bond wasn’t there to sue him
He says in his Smithsonian article that the two authors got along famously.
And as for why Fleming “borrowed” the name of a bird expert and conservationist who was part of over 100 scientific expeditions to the West Indies between the 1920s and 1960s, the author explained it himself in a letter to Mrs Bond.
“It struck me that this name, brief, unromantic and very masculine was just what I needed, and so James Bond II was born,” said Fleming, who himself described “Birds of the West Indies” as one of his “Bibles”.
Therefore with thanks to Ian Fleming, an American ornithologist’s name is now immortalised. Indeed, one could say he now has No Time To Die.
SOURCES
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/who-was-the-real-james-bond-180978746/
https://www.anspblog.org/uncovering-the-real-james-bond/
