Bidspirit auction | PHILBY KIM: (1912-1988)

PHILBY KIM: (1912-1988) - PHILBY KIM: (1912-1988) British intelligence officer and double agent for the Soviet Union, a member of the Spy Ring known as the Cambridge Five. A Communist, Philby later defected to the Soviet Union and served as an NKVD and KGB operative. A rare T.L.S., Kim Philby , one page, 8vo, Moscow, 31st December n.y. (1968), to Brian Rooney (' My dear Rooney '). Philby announces ' I owe you an apology ' and continues ' I did spend a little time on your elegant signature, and it seemed to me that Mooney just had it. Just now, on re-reading your letter, my eye fell on the item in red at the foot of the first page, which shows unmistakably that your name is not Mooney ' further admitting ' This seems to be becoming a habit with me. I did the same thing, only worse, in the first letter I wrote to my French publisher -- not only spelling his surname wrong, but calling him Pierre instead of Robert! ' In concluding the spy writes ' So please put it down to a case of galloping senescence in an old man who celebrates his 57th birthday tomorrow -- and forgive me .' Accompanied by the original envelope annotated by Philby with his return address in Cyrillic VG