Errol Flynn / Dr. Hermann F. Erben: A Friendship of Two Adventurers 1933-1940: A Documentation [*SIGNED*]

Vienna (Austria): Josef Fegerl Ges.m.b.H.. Near Fine. 1985. First Edition. Hardcover. (laminated boards; no dust jacket, as issued) [beautiful condition, essentially as-new but for a tiny bump at the top of the spine]. (B&W photographs) INSCRIBED on the title page: "For / Rudy Behlmer -- / Another Flynn Buff! / Best to You" and SIGNED by the editor; also dated July 25, 1985, in his hand. Fascinating (if ultimately enigmatic) chronicle of the association between Flynn and Dr. Erben, and of their joint globe-hopping during the years chronicled -- in particular, to Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Dr. Erben is a controversial figure in Flynn's life -- biographer Charles Higham fingered him as a secret Nazi agent, citing their friendship as a key element in his case that Flynn himself was a clandestine Nazi, but other researchers have debunked Higham's entire thesis, dismissing Erben himself as a malicious liar. (The publication of Higham's 1980 book "Errol Flynn: The Untold Story" gave birth to a virtual cottage industry devoted to debunking his claims; an Internet search will lead you to a book-by-book account of the controversy.) Herr Fegerl's little tome doesn't even begin to grapple with this question, though; as per its sub-sub-title, it claims to be nothing more than "a documentation," consisting almost entirely of excerpts from Dr. Erben's diaries and photographs of Flynn (and occasionally himself) from his private collection. (The editor explains in his introduction how Dr. Erben allowed him access to his diaries and photographs, and "talked about his journeys with Errol and his visits to him for many hours.") No matter that the book's rear-cover blurb claims that it reveals "for the first time the TRUTH about Errol Flynn's New Guinea journey and what he REALLY did in the Spanish Civil War," the book's travel-album format doesn't really provide much hard evidence for the "was-he-or-wasn't-he?" debate, either way. Erben took his secrets (and/or lies) to the grave with him -- he died just prior to publication -- and Herr Fegerl pretty much sums it up when he states that "this record has the charm of authenticity and does not allow further speculation." Still, it's fascinating, and the 160+ previously unpublished photos are for the most part just great. The inscribee of this copy was film historian Rudy Behlmer, a noted expert on what many consider Flynn's most iconic movie, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. Signed by Editor .