Bond in the Spy Museum
In which we are left less than impressed by 007 call-outs at the Spy Museum
In the last issue of the newsletter, we took a look back at our visit to the special Bond-in-Motion exhibit at the International Spy Museum.
But what about Bond in the main museum itself? The main part of the museum is of course devoted to the factual history of spies, so as a fictional character would 007 have any place? We were delighted to see that he did get the occasional mention.
In the exhibit dedicated to the Tudor spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, mention was made of Waslingham’s use of the ‘Double O’ mark on correspondence with Queen Elizabeth I that indicated it was meant ‘For Her Eyes Only.’ Perhaps more surprising was that on the reverse of the exhibit, there was a panel featuring famous spymasters that included a portrait of Dame Judi Dench as “M.” - We wern’t expecting that!
From one famous political leader to another, the section on the events surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis included a side exhibit on John Kennedy that mentioned his connection with the Bond novel From Russia With Love, and included a copy in the exhibit. Unfortunately, it was just a copy of a cheap book club edition, something that was published well after JFK’s unfortunate death.
It is well documented that Ian Fleming sent Kennedy a personally signed copy after they had met at a mutual friend’s dinner party several months earlier. Surely the Museum could have at least mocked up a book with a facsimile of the first edition cover to make it look like the one that reportedly sat on Kennedy’s nightstand.
The section Alan was most excited about visiting was the side hall dedicated to spies in popular culture. Which turned out to be disappointingly small with a large screen covering one wall on which played clips of popular spy movies with short commentary from professional intelligence operatives. The Bond clips were accompanied by comments from former Director General of MI5, Stella Remington, discussing how heads of service would never act like Judi Dench’s M.
On the side wall was a glass case with a small selection of merchandise from various spy media franchises. Front and center was the iconic Aston Martin - but as you can see from the photo at the top of this newsletter, the captioning and the item didn’t match up!
You can do better than this Spy Museum - If you need any help with correctly labeling any future Bond-related items, we’re available. Just saying…
Alan & Gill
Bond Briefing
A massive thank you to all our subscribers to date. The reception and uptake of folks registering to receive this newsletter exceeded any expectations we had. It was a very humbling start seeing the names roll in as folks signed on.
Bond Chronology
An extract from our current in-progress project. - A detailed chronology of the James Bond phenomenon from creation until today, one month at a time.
April 1953
13
Jonathan Cape publishes Ian Fleming’s first novel, Casino Royale in London, establishing the character of James Bond. It was estimated that a copy sold out every six and a half minutes and by the end of May, the first print run had sold out.
Bond Blatherings
Last weekend Jarrod Albreich and Alan recorded the next episode of our James Bond vs Spy Movie series on the On Her Majesty’s Secret Podcast network. This time around we went back to 1963 to compare From Russia With Love to Charade. - The completed episode in which we talk about Alan’s favorite suspense thriller and compare it with a Bond movie is now available on your favorite podcast platform, or you can listen to it right HERE.
And talking of From Russia With Love, the evening of the day that this issue of the newsletter drops the Rogue Agents crew will be getting together to review the BBC Radio adaptation. Which if you haven’t heard before is a good listen - you can check it out below.
Bond Books
Kim Sherwood’s latest novel in the Double-O series, A Spy Like Me, arrived at the Bond Lexicon office early this week, and as we put this issue of the newsletter together it is sitting on Alan’s nightstand.
We’ll be posting his thoughts in an upcoming newsletter, so keep a lookout for that.
Bond for Sale
Looking for a few James Bond book ideas? - How about checking out our dedicated 007 on-line bookstore?
Of course, there is always our own James Bond Lexicon which you can order from Bookshop.org just by clicking HERE or on the cover below.
If you would like a personalized, signed copy we still have a few copies of both the James Bond Lexicon and James Bond: The History of the Illustrated 007 in stock. Just drop us a note at alan@jamesbondlexicon.com and we can get that fixed for you. (Sorry US only at the moment due to shipping costs)
Where to Find Us Online
For more information on what else we have going on with writing, podcasting, and general slice-of-life stuff, check out our regular FREE weekly CAN’T SEE THE FOREST newsletter -
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See you next time
Alan J. Porter & Gillian J. Porter
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