Ian Fleming

A first edition, first printing of the James Bond book From Russia with Love, by Ian Fleming, which has been inscribed by the author.

• Ian Fleming (English).
• London: Jonathan Cape, 1957.
• Inscribed by Fleming to R. Singleton-Ward .
• Bound in the original black boards with silver titles on spine, red rose and metallic gun to the front board, in the rare dust wrapper.

The book is inscribed with the author’s signed presentation inscription to the front endpaper, ‘To R. Singleton-Ward/ In (I hope)/Gratitude/ Ian Fleming/ 1957.’

Singleton-Ward was born in Droitwich at the turn of the century and studied as a masseur and physiotherapist in the area and was certainly still operating in the area in the 1940s.

Singleton-Ward operated in Harley Street as a specialist physiotherapist in the 1950s and 1960s. This is born out in his book, My Two Hands Talk, published by Christopher Johnson in the same year as From Russia With Love, 1957. It is possible that Fleming used the book as background (as he had for Patrick Leigh Fermor’s, Traveller’s Tree for Live and Let Die) for the health clinic scenes in the book of Thunderball, either introduced to the text by a member of the publishing house, or introduced to it by one of the man Harley Street specialists he used to visit. There is a no coincidence perhaps that Thunderball (published 4 years later) opens with Bond on the physiotherapist’s table having a massage. It is possible that Singleton-Ward was able to give Fleming some background about this.

The association in the presentation inscription suggests they were close or certainly friends. The rare use of Fleming's full name and date in an inscription (1957) is evidence of this. With the early Bond books, he invariably preferred to use just his Christian name or the more formal "The Author". Singleton-Ward’s address appears as 46 Portland Place W1 in 1965 (London Phone Book), but no trace after this with no mention after 1965 in the British General Chiropractors register/council.