007 creator had own Miss Moneypenny

It turns out that James Bond creator Ian Fleming got a little help from an unexpected source — a real-life Miss Moneypenny to whom he turned for advice on plot points and character development.

A series of letters between Fleming and Jean Frampton, a typist-turned-adviser, was sold to an anonymous private collector Friday for more than $28,000, far more than had been expected.

The novelist and the typist never met, but over time she became a trusted aide to Fleming, who was working in London as a newspaper editor in the 1950s when he dreamed up Agent 007.

At first, Frampton limited her advice to spelling mistakes and minor inconsistencies, but over time she took a more assertive role and gave Fleming substantial guidance on plot and character development, said Amy Brenan, an assistant auctioneer at Duke's of Dorchester, which sold the packet of letters.

"I think it's fair to say that Ian Fleming and 007 come across sometimes as misogynistic, but there was none of that in his relationship with Frampton," Brenan said. "They had an intellectual relationship on a very literary level and she provided some inspiration, and he put her into the character of Miss Moneypenny. I think actually Miss Moneypenny is quite intelligent."