James Bond, Marine Biologist
03/03/2021
When ornithologist Jim Bond went on expeditions to the West Indies for the Academy of Natural Sciences in the 1920s and early 1930s, he collected many species of fish. Several of those species later turned up in an Ian Fleming fleming.
Bond even collected a relative of the scorpionfish that graces the cover of the first edition of Octopussy and the Living Daylights.
With the help of two current Academy of Natural Science naturalists -- Mark Sabaj Perez and Paul Callomon, I was able to unlock the secrets of that dustjacket for an article I wrote for literary007.com.
To the casual observer, the items on the cover are a fish and a conch shell. To the trained eye, they are so much more.
You can read my article here.
A big thank you to everyone at the Academy of Natural Sciences (now affiliated with Drexel University) for their help with the article -- and especially my book about Bond.
It was exactly one year ago today that the Academy hosted the big launch event for The Real James Bond -- just before the world went into COVID-19 lockdown.
Here's to better days ahead.
P.S. I am told that in my article, I erroneously described an octopus' appendages as tentacles. They are called arms. In my defense, Ian Fleming called them tentacles as well, so I am in good company.
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