The James Bond Papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: ANSP-Coll-0972

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The James Bond Collection contains correspondence, publications, photographs and objects related to the ornithology work of Bond. The collection is divided into three series: Series I. Correspondence; Series II. Publications; and Series III. Objects.

Series I. Correspondence contains letters dealing with Bond’s work as an ornithologist at the Academy including information on research, collecting trips, and publications with a few personal letters. In addition to original letters from senders to Bond the folders also have carbon copies of response letters by Bond. The series is divided into two subseries: Subseries A. Subject and Correspondent Files and Subseries B. Year files. These subseries which do have overlapping dates and topics reflect two different filing systems establish by Bond, or perhaps an assistant of his. Subseries A. Subject and Correspondent Files includes letters that have been organized by subject (generally the geographical area of research) or by the name of a correspondent. The largest single grouping of letters were exchanged between Bond and Orlando H. Garrido. The folders and letters retain the order in which they were found and do not have a recognizable arrangement. Subseries B. Year files includes letters that have been organized by year. Files with multiple years are organized in a rough reverse chronological order (by year but not by day). Files that contain only one year of correspondence have no obvious internal organizational order and reflect the state in which they were found.

Series II. Publications contains drafts, correspondence, books, pamphlets and offprints. The series is divided into four subseries. Subseries A: Working Papers, Subseries B: Publications by James Bond, Subseries C. Mary Wickham Bond Publications, Subseries D. Library of James Bond. Subseries A. Working Papers contains manuscript drafts, correspondence, etc. related to Bond’s publications and is organized chronologically with items without dates at the front. Subseries B. Publications by James Bond is made up of published books and articles by Bond and is divided into two subsubseries. Subsubseries 1. Books contains the books published under Bond’s names. This section also includes the supplements to the Check-list of Birds of the West Indies. The materials are arranged alphabetically by book title. Books with the same title are organized chronologically by date of edition. Subsubseries 2. Articles contains offprints and other publications that include articles by James Bond. The articles are arranged alphabetically by publication title. Subseries C. Mary Wickham Bond Publications includes books written and published by Mary Bond arranged chronologically by publication date. The book subjects reflect her experiences during her marriage to James Bond. The subseries also includes a scrapbook of photographs and articles related to Bond, Ian Fleming, and the fictional spy that bears his name which was compiled by Mary Bond. Subseries D. Library of James Bond contains a few publications that appear to have been special copies of books from Bond’s personal library.

Series III. Objects includes Bond’s scientific award medals, a penknife likely used to skin birds, and a framed photograph of Bond skinning a bird.

Dates

1911-1988
Majority of material found within 1926 - 1988

Creator

Bond, Mary Wickham (1898-1997) (Person)

Biographical Note

James Bond was born to Francis E. Bond, Jr. (1867-1923) and Margaret Tyson (d. 1912) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 4, 1900. He was the youngest of three children with Margaret (1897-1904) and Francis III (b. 1898) preceding him. Francis, Jr. made his fortune as an investment banker and purchased several homes in both the city and the country where James spent part of his childhood. James and his family spent summer months in Maine on Mt. Desert Island and they often traveled to Europe. In 1911 Francis, Jr. financed an Academy of Natural Sciences expedition to Venezuela (which he accompanied) with the main purpose of procuring bird specimens.

In 1912 Margaret Tyson Bond died. Two years later Francis, Jr. married Florence Eeles and moved the entire family to her home country of England. The Bond children acquired three step siblings and a brother, Peter Bond (b. 1918). In 1919 James entered Cambridge University. After earning his degree in economics in 1922, he returned to the Philadelphia to take up a position in a bank. In 1925 Bond quit his job to join his friend Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee on an expedition to the Amazon where they collected live animals and animal specimens to sell in Philadelphia. After the expedition Bond decided to become a naturalist. Though not formally trained, Bond had connections in the scientific world, included ornithologist Witmer Stone, head of the Bird Department at the Academy who had been with Francis, Jr. in Venezuela in 1911. Stone accepted James and de Schauensee into the department without pay in 1926. Early on Bond chose to focus his research on the birds of the West Indies – a diverse and not intensively studied group. In addition to collecting, Bond began to write scientific papers, some of which challenged the contemporary understandings of the bird populations in that region. Bond also wrote a book on the birds of Mt. Desert Island, his family’s old summer retreat, along with his uncle, Carroll Tyson.

Over the years Bond worked his way up from his entry level position under Stone to curator of birds. Bond’s best known publication was Birds of the West Indies, first released in 1936. Bond received numerous scientific medals for his work including the Institute of Jamaica’s Musgrave Medal in 1952, the Brewster Medal of the American Ornithologists Union in 1954; and the Leidy Medal of the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1975.

In 1953 Bond married Mary Wickham Porcher (b. 1898) daughter of Samual Porcher, chief purchasing agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Like James Mary had been raised in wealth, but gave up the socialite life to make a living for herself and live independently from her family. She earned her living by writing short stories and married Shippen Lewis (1887-1952) in 1930. She continued to write and publish. James and Mary met in the 1930s through his work as an ornithologist. Mary consulted him on information about birds for her work. After their marriage the Bond’s traveled together, James researching West Indian birds and Mary writing of their travel experiences.

In 1960 the Bonds learned that author Ian Fleming had used James’s name for the main character in his debut spy novel. James did not always consider the attention caused by the popularity of Fleming’s books to be pleasant. Mary eventually wrote a short book How 007 Got his Name.

Bond died on February 14, 1989. Mary Wickham Bond died in 1997.