First edition James Bond books owned by the `real 007` up for auction

A collection of James Bond books that belonged to a man who is thought to have inspired the OO7 character is being sold at auction in Edinburgh, reports the Daily Mail.

Sir Fitzroy Maclean was a diplomat, soldier, Conservative MP and good friend of Bond creator Ian Fleming.

He went to Eaton with Fleming and when he died in 1996 his library, including the full-set of first editions, was passed down through his family. Many are first editions.

His son Sir Charles Maclean is now selling the novels where they are expected to fetch £20,000.

This year is the 100th anniversary of Fleming's birth and collectors have pushed up prices for James Bond-related items.

The books include a first edition of Casino Royale from 1953 and every Bond novel that followed, including the short stories.

During his career, Sir Charles carried out a number of highly-dangerous diplomatic missions, many of which could have come straight from the pages of a thriller.

The Anglo-Scot was suspected by the Russians in the 1930s of being a spy and he witnessed the Soviet show trials.

In 1943 he was chosen personally by Winston Churchill to liaise with Yugoslav leader Josip Tito's partisans, an exceptionally dangerous mission behind enemy lines.

He also was involved in the kidnapping at gunpoint of General Zahidi, the Persian collaborator with the Nazis.

Simon Vickers, of Lyon and Turnbull auctioneers in Edinburgh, which is selling the items, said: 'Sir Fitzroy is one of the men thought to have inspired the character of Bond.

'He certainly fits the bill and when asked during his life about the link he wouldn't confirm or deny it.

'He was a friend of Fleming's and they moved in the same circles. Maclean lived an amazing life.

'In 1935 he was Third Secretary at the British embassy at Paris before moving to the British embassy at Moscow.

"He witnessed the Soviet show trials which Fleming was then covering for Reuters news agency.

'He travelled through Central Asia in the 1930s, sometimes without permits, and the Soviets naturally assumed he was a spy.

'He was asked by Stewart Menzies, head of SIS, to do a recce to gather more information about a possible Soviet invasion of Turkey via the Caucasus in the 1950s.

'He did so, being debriefed on his return by the double-agent Kim Philby - a classic Bond scenario.

'He was in Nazi Germany just before the war and there were other incidents among Fitzroy's wartime exploits that were straight out of James Bond.

'One was the successful kidnapping at gunpoint of the Persian collaborator with the Nazis, General Zahidi.

'Another Bond-like episode had murkier associations. In 1943 Fitzroy was due to leave Cairo in a Liberator plane bound for London.

'At the last minute he received instructions to delay his departure. The Liberator mysteriously crashed into the sea off Gibraltar, killing all passengers.

'Among them was General Sikorski, leader of the Polish government-in-exile.

'Several theories have been put forward to explain this incident, including the infamous accusation that Churchill was responsible.

'But Fitzroy privately suspected Philby who was in the Spanish section of MI6 at the time.

'In 1943 he was chosen personally by Churchill to liaise with Tito's partisans in Yugoslavia, and the men became friends.

'Tito gave him a holiday home in Yugoslavia and that remains in the family." Despite his supposed espionage career, Sir Fitzroy never admitted to being a spy.

Mr Vickers added: 'Even though he may not have admitted to being a spy, he certainly had many connections with, and contacts in, the British intelligence.

'His set of James Bond books are not inscirbed so I don't think Fleming gave them to him.

'But the fact he had them might add further evidence to the suspicion that he was the man on whom Bond was based.'

Sir Fitzroy, who was also a founder member of the SAS, was a Conservative MP for 33 years, firstly for the constituency of Lancaster and then Bute and North Ayrshire.

His wife Veronica was the daughter of the 16th Lord Lovat. The couple had two sons, Charles, 62, and Alexander, 59, and lived in Argyllshire.

The books will be auctioned on Wednesday.

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