Name’s Secretan.. James Secretan?
James Bond creator Ian Fleming had originally planned to call his super spy James Secretan when on undercover missions, but later settled for a much catchier name, according to an early draft of his debut novel.
The draft of his debut novel Casino Royale, released to mark 60 years of the book’s eventual publication in April 1953, reveals the original working name for 007 as Secretan, which was later abandoned in favour of the much popular — “The name is Bond....James Bond”.
“Ian’s first idea was to give James Bond an assumed name as his cover. He must have realised it would cause confusion if he had Bond known as Bond to his friends and the security services in London, but as Secretan for his cover name to strangers or people he didn’t want to know he was a spy,” the author’s niece, Kate Grimond, told the Sunday Times.
In the manuscript made public for the first time, a CIA man introduces himself to the fictional MI6 agent at the Hotel Splendide casino saying: “My name’s Felix Leiter. Glad to meet you.” Bond replies: “Mine’s Secretan. James Secretan”.
The word “Secretan” is scrawled out in blue ink, with “Bond” written in its place. Grimond, whose family owns the rights to the manuscript, said the name Secretan was probably inspired by the 19th century Swiss philosopher Charles Secretan.
“I’ve no proof but I do know Ian was interested in philosophy. He also often chose names from people he knew or had heard of — sometimes an amalgam of more than one person,” she said.
In the draft, Miss Moneypenny was originally called Miss Pettavel. An additional letter released this weekend as part of the anniversary celebrations shows that Fleming argued with his publisher that the book’s recommended price was too low. Fleming, a naval-officer-turned-spy-writer, published the Bond adventure Casino Royale on April 13, 1953 and kick-started what would become a multi-billion-dollar franchise featuring one of the world’s most famous fictional secret agents.
The Hollywood Bond film franchise itself celebrated its 50th year last November with star Daniel Craig currently holding the “licence to kill”. — PTI
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