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Printed Books & Manuscripts

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Lot 47

FLEMING and BOOK COLLECTING

10 November 2009, 11:00 GMT

London, New Bond Street

Sold for £480 inc. premium

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FLEMING and BOOK COLLECTING

Typed letter signed (“John”) by John Carter, to Ian Fleming (“My dear Ian”), urging him to sell his book collection at Sotheby’s, for which he promises to prepare a special catalogue (“…That you should consign your entire collection of science, medicine, philosophy, thought, politics, economics etc. to Sothebys, where the responsibility for cataloguing it would be taken off your shoulders, where I could and very gladly would supervise the preparation of the catalogue of material in which I take a personal interest, and where I believe you would best be able to engage the competitive frenzy of the two institutions I have in mind…”) and treating him to an analysis of the current state of the market; together with a carbon of Fleming’s reply and a follow-up autograph note by Carter, Carter’s letter 2 pages, on headed paper, 4to, Sotheby & Co, 6 January 1956

Footnotes

Carter had just joined Sotheby's as their sole Associate Director and was, no doubt, expected to approach his friend in this manner. In his reply Fleming tactfully declined the offer: "I would rather have the books than the money. I dare say the day will come when I would rather have the money than the books and then I shall come to you and be told that the money isn't there. Then I shall have missed the market and that will be entirely my fault...". Although Carter was denied his sale, it was to be Fleming's collection of "science, medicine, philosophy, thought, politics, economics etc" that formed the nucleus of the Printing and the Mind of Man exhibition that Carter mounted in 1963 (in which – as per the promise of our letter – he drew on the expertise of a Sotheby's colleague, Dr H.A. Feisenberger, for much of the cataloguing).

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ARCHITECTURE - ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL
Manuscript planning brief for work under the supervision of Inigo Jones, [c.1631]

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for 'The Suffragette' newspaper, [c.1913-1914]

ARCHITECTURE - STUART (JAMES) AND NICHOLAS REVETT
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ILLUMINATED ADDRESS – CLARA CODD
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ARMENIAN - HISTORY, THEOLOGY AND PRINTING
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BANK NOTES - MANUFACTURING
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