Phyllis Bottome | Strange Fruit, 1928, first edition, presentation copy, from the library of Ian Fleming

Phyllis Bottome

Strange Fruit. London: W. Collins & Sons, 1928

8vo, FROM THE LIBRARY OF IAN FLEMING, FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR ("June 29th 1928 | To Ian | with love from | the writer - | Phyllis") on front free endpaper, original orange cloth, lettered in gilt, collector's red cloth folding case, top edge slightly dust-soiled, binding slightly soiled

A collection of short stories of European adventure.

Phyllis Bottome (1884-1963) was a British novelist. Her husband, Alban Ernan Forbes Dennis was MI6 Head of Station for Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia, and Foreign Office mentor to Fleming.

In 1924, the couple, both interested in pedagogic psychology, had established a summer school at Kitzbühel in Austria, for English and American young men to practice languages. Fleming attended and it was here that his literary talents were encouraged by Phyllis.

"As the evenings drew in that winter, the silver-haired novelist would gather her young men around her... and she would begin to weave a tale. They were expected to contribute thier own embellishments to the story." (Andrew Lycett, Ian Fleming, 1995, p. 34)

Writing in 1960 to Phyllis Forbes Dennis, Fleming stated "My life with you both is one of my most cherished memories, and heaven knows where I should be today without Ernan". Fleming specifically credited Phyllis Forbes Dennis with influencing his literary talents. In a letter from 1963 he wrote "Looking back, I am sure that your influence had a great deal to do with the fact that [I] later became [a] successful writer... and I remember clearly writing a rather bizarre short story for you which you criticised kindly and which was in fact the first thing I ever wrote."

PROVENANCE:

From the library of Ian Fleming; Sotheby's 11 November 2020, lot 96