The Complete Works of Ian Fleming - Centenary Edition

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Also, five books from Fleming’s Library (kindly loaned by the Lilly Library, Indiana University Bloomington) can now be seen at Sotherans of Sackville Street, London. Four of these books were at the 1963 exhibition, Printing at the Mind of Man. They encapsulate the variety of both the Exhibition and Ian Fleming’s collection.

Printing and the Mind of Man

In 1963 the International Printing Machinery and Allied Trades Exhibition, at the behest of typographer Stanley Morison, decided to put together an exhibition of the contribution printing had made to the enlargement of human knowledge. A display at Earls Court concentrated on the technical side of printing, while a display at the British Museum looked more at fine printing. However, both displays had the quite novel intention of promoting the study of books for their role in advancing factual knowledge, rather than for their aesthetics.

Ian Fleming who lent 40 books from his library, was the leading private collector who contributed to the exhibition.

1. Bell, Alexander Graham. "Researches in Telephony." 1876. PMM 550
2. Booth, General William. In Darkest, and the Way Out. London, 1890. PMM 560
3. Freud, Sigmund. Die Traumdeutung. 1900. PMM 577
4. Galton, Francis. Finger Prints. London, 1892. PMM 563

The final piece from Fleming's library, Velocipedes Bicycles and Tricycles, 1869, although not used in Printing and the Mind of Man, shows a further dimension of his collection.

Fleming's book collection which he put together in the 1930s consisted of first editions of books which represented landmarks in human progress or acheivement or which changed the course of history.