Philby's Widow to Sell Memorabilia at Auction

LONDON -- Tough times in Russia have prompted the widow of British spy Harold "Kim" Philby to sell books and memorabilia belonging to her husband, including a birthday present from the KGB. The belongings of Philby and his collaborator, Guy Burgess, are to be auctioned July 18 at Sotheby's for Philby's widow, Rufina, who lives in Moscow. "Living conditions are not perfect in Russia," said Sotheby's expert Peter Selley. "In an ideal world she would probably prefer to hold on to them."Burgess and fellow-spy Donald Maclean fled to Moscow in 1951 as they were about to be exposed. Philby followed in 1963, and Burgess left him his library when he died seven months later. Philby died in 1988 and was given a full KGB funeral. Rufina, half Polish and half Russian, had married him in 1970. She was his fourth wife. Among the 119 lots is a 75th birthday present to Philby from the KGB. It is a model spy satellite with the inscription, "To Comrade Philby from your friends and colleagues who do the same work.""These things are difficult to estimate, as there is no specific comparison, but one gets an idea of what they are worth after dealing with historical material," said Selley, the auctioneer's expert on English literature and printed books. The material includes the typescript of Philby's memoirs which were unpublished except for some extracts in a London newspaper last year, and the typescript of his published book about himself called, "My Secret War," for which his friend, novelist Graham Greene, wrote a preface. Greene said the book was "honest, well-written, often amusing ... far more gripping than any novel of espionage I can remember."Also in the auction are Philby's briefcase, folding camera, notes of his activities in pre-war Austria and many photographs of him and his friends, including the rarely photographed East German spymaster Markus Wolf.