TLS signed “Yours ever, Ian,” one page, 8 x 10, Old Mitre Court letterhead, May 14, 1963. Letter to journalist and spy Antony Terry in Bonn, Germany. In part: "Thank you a thousand times for your most prompt supply of photographs which were just what I wanted, though I am depressed to see that the 'Pregnant Oyster' was not the work of Corbusier but of an American architect. Is this so? If it is I shall have to amend my text." In fine condition, with intersecting folds, two punch holes, and staple holes to upper left corner. While working as foreign manager of the Kemsley newspaper group's Sunday Times, Fleming hired Terry to be posted in Germany. Utilizing this legitimate news organization as a cover, Fleming also ran an intelligence outfit known as Mercury which used foreign correspondents to gather information in sensitive foreign zones—Terry was one such correspondent. In this particular letter, written well into his days as a successful spy novelist, Fleming is evidently referencing the text of his travelogue Thrilling Cities, published in November 1963, in which he mentions the 'pregnant oyster' building in Berlin.
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