Monday, August 12, 2013

Golden typewriter at the International Spy Museum

The International Spy Museum just tweeted the following. Wow.

UPDATE: Thanks to Jason Whiton of Spy Vibe, we have some info on this. This is not the golden typewriter that Ian Fleming used to write his James Bond novels. That sold several years back at auction to an unknown buyer. Here's what we are seeing here:

COMING SOON TO SPY! A sneak peek of our newest artifact soon to be installed in our Exquisitely Evil: 50 Years of Bond Villains exhibit.

This golden typewriter belonged to Sir Peter Smithers, who during WWII, worked closely with Ian Fleming in British Naval Intelligence on a number of covert operations. Fleming so admired his friends’ golden typewriter that he purchased one for himself, and used it to write several novels.

Thank you Jason. 

7 comments:

  1. interesting! is this the original or an edition from the same year? will this answer questions about who bought Fleming's typewriter at auction years ago? hope so. cool! -jason (spy vibe)

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    1. Yeah, I wondering that myself. I just threw this up on my way out the door. Didn't have time to really investigate.

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  2. i got an answer they say it was owned by a pal of Fleming's and inspired him to order one for himself. Details here:

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=618282291549454&set=a.198491546861866.54664.186106781433676&type=1&theater

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  3. The rumour was that Pierce Brosnan bought Fleming's gold Royal Quiet De Luxe at auction several years ago, but I haven't heard this mentioned in some time.

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  4. I thought it was Brosnan too ... didn't he even say it himself?

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  5. Brosnan has denied purchasing the typewriter, but the identity remains a mystery. For more info, check out these two Typewriter posts on Spy Vibe:

    http://spyvibe.blogspot.com/2013/04/ian-fleming-1953-royal-quiet-deluxe.html

    http://spyvibe.blogspot.com/2013/03/ian-fleming-gold-typewriter.html

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  6. The typewriter that Ian Fleming had was exactly like my Dads that can be seen on the top URL on Spyvibe. Most of the Royal Gold typewriters out there are an older model that is different. The one that Ian Fleming had was a newer model that for some reason seems to be very rare. Almost every time you see one on ebay it is usually the older Royal Gold model. You can also see my Dads at:

    http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/80687-rare-royal-1953-quiet-deluxe-gold-portable

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