When we think of James Bond, a handsome-looking guy in a black tuxedo working undercover for a secret intelligence service would probably come into mind. However, the real James Bond is an American ornithologist.
Ian Fleming, the British spy novelist, confessed to Rogue Magazine that he stole the author's name from a birding book. He recalled the book while he was thinking of a natural-sounding name for a hero. The book was Birds of the West Indies, published in 1936 after Bond spent a decade exploring the islands of the Caribbean. It was a 460-page field guide that featured 159 black-and-white illustrations.
Instead of villains, the Real James Bond catches birds!
Image: Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department/ Jack Holloway
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Image: Jack Holloway
Ian Fleming (right) met James Bond (left) once at Goldeneye in Jamaica in 1964. Image: Mary Bond/ Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department
Ian Fleming inscribed "To the real James Bond from the thief of his identity" in an advance copy of the book You Only Live Twice.