Can you name the first appearance of the young James Bond? Maybe you think it was in Charlie Higson’s first Young Bond novel SilverFin? Or maybe you’d say it was in James Bond The Authorized Biography of 007 by John Person? Still some might argue that The Adventures of James Bond Jr 003 1/2 would constitute the first young “Bond” adventure. But all these answers are wrong.

The very first appearance of a young James Bond was in a forgotten short story called “Some Are Born Great” first published in 1959 and possibly written by Dr. No and From Russia With Love screenwriter Johanna Harwood.

This amazing discovery was first revealed by author Charles Helfenstein in his major new book, The Making of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Amazon, Amazon.co.uk). In the chapter about the OHMSS novel, Helfenstein mentions that a Young Bond parody was printed in the house magazine of Bond publisher Jonathan Cape in the spring of 1960.  

Intrigued, I contacted Charles and asked if he could provide more details for the Young Bond Dossier.  Here is his reply:

“As part of my research on the novel, I wanted to see how Jonathan Cape promoted the book, and besides posters, catalogs, and contests, Cape had a house magazine called “Now and Then”, which was sent to booksellers and interested subscribers. The magazine had ceased publication by the time OHMSS was published, but I went through the archives anyway, to see what gems might be in other issues. Issue 105, Spring 1960, caught my attention because it featured a story about a young James Bond:

I thought it was hilarious that the story had first appeared in Nursery World in 1959, and that Cape thought the story was so good that it warranted republishing in their magazine “with apologies to Ian Fleming.” The archives don’t detail what Fleming thought of the story, but I would think that Cape would have obtained Fleming’s permission before putting it in the magazine.

One other piece of this puzzle that I have yet to verify: the author of the story, “J.M. Harwood” is most likely Johanna Harwood, the screenwriter who worked on Dr No and From Russia With Love.

And finally, I had the pleasure of presenting a copy of “Some are Born Great” to Young Bond author Charlie Higson when he visited Washington D.C. this summer. 51 years later, we are still fascinated by James Bond’s formative years.”

Charles has now graciously given us a copy of this long lost Bond story. Just CLICK HERE -- or on the story image above -- to read Young Bond’s very first adventure, “Some Are Born Great” by J.M. Harwood.

Charlie Higson and Charles Helfenstein with copy of Some Are Born Great (photo courtesy of Dr Shatterhand’s Botanical Garden)

UPDATE: Charles Helfenstein has just revealed on the CBn forums that he’s confirmed Johanna Harwood’s middle initial is indeed “M”, lending more credence to the theory that she is the author of “Some Are Born Great.” Says Charles:

“According to "London charivari", Volume 237, page 475, published in 1959, in an article about skiing she signs herself Johanna M. Harwood. The article's title is ... For Women — Long Skis in Kitzbuhel. More info soon.”

Kitzbuhel -- yes, that’s yet another Young Bond connection.