The Dennis Wheatley 'Museum'

The legacy of Gordon Eric Gordon-Tombe

Gregory Sallust's face as it appears on the dust jacket of the first edition of 'The Scarlet Impostor' (1940).
The picture was drawn by DW's step-daughter Diana Younger.

One of the paragraphs in DW's autobiography where he describes the extent to which Sallust is based on Gordon-Tombe

Sallust made his first appearance in Black August' (1934).
He entered with an amoral suggestion worthy of Gordon-Tombe.

As these texts note, DW based the physical appearance of one of his main heroes, Gregory Sallust, on Gordon-Tombe.

It has recently been argued* that Gregory Sallust was one of the inspirations for Ian Fleming's James Bond. To the extent this is true, Gordon-Tombe has been perpetuated even more widely in twentieth century fiction.

References : 'Officer and Temporary Gentleman' page 135
'Drink and Ink' page 260.
'Black August' pages 27-8.

*On the similarities between Gregory Sallust and James Bond, see 'The Secret Origins of James Bond' by Jeremy Duns (2009). For a link to this article, click here.

Provenance:

Private Collection

The Dennis Wheatley 'Museum' - Gordon Eric Gordon-Tombe

The legacy of Gordon Eric Gordon-Tombe