The Naval Memoirs.

by FLEMING, Ian - GODFREY, John Henry.

$15,798 · Offered by Biblio

Signed

Hailsham: [For the author] Typed, Duplicated and Bound at Everybodies [sic] Secretarial Service, by Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Hilton,, 1964-66. M's privately published autobiography, with an account of the services of the "war winner" Ian Fleming First and only edition of Admiral John Henry Godfrey's privately issued autobiographical memoirs, an expansive and forthright record of his four-decade naval career. Godfrey served as Director of Naval Intelligence during the Second World War and was Ian Fleming's superior, widely regarded as the chief inspiration for "M". Sets are scarce: we trace only the typescripts at the National Maritime Museum and a set at UC Irvine. This set is signed in Volume II, with six parts carrying Godfrey's compliments slips. The slip in Volume V, Part II - the central volume on his work at the Naval Intelligence Division (NID) - notes its "strictly limited circulation". The volumes were issued privately and marked "Personal". The set lacks only Volume I (1902-15), Volume VIII ("Afterthoughts"), and the general index. Holdings elsewhere are fragmentary: the Bodleian lacks the index; the Imperial War Museum appears to lack Volume VIII; the British Library has only three volumes; Leeds two; and Florida State a single part. No parts are traced at auction. Described by the Imperial War Museum as a "skilful mixture of recollection and quotation", the memoirs offer one of the most detailed inside accounts of the NID and of Godfrey's professional relationship with

• Year: 1964
• Binding: hardcover

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