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Orwell's letters up for auction | Orwell's letters up for auction |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Letters from the author George Orwell which give an insight into his life are being sold at auction. | Letters from the author George Orwell which give an insight into his life are being sold at auction. |
They document the time in the early 1930s when Orwell was staying with his parents in Southwold, Suffolk, after he returned from Burma. | They document the time in the early 1930s when Orwell was staying with his parents in Southwold, Suffolk, after he returned from Burma. |
The letters are to his friends in the town, Eleanor Jacques and Dennis Collings, and one subject he discusses is the writing of his first two books. | The letters are to his friends in the town, Eleanor Jacques and Dennis Collings, and one subject he discusses is the writing of his first two books. |
They are being auctioned later by Bonhams Auctioneers in London. | They are being auctioned later by Bonhams Auctioneers in London. |
Alongside the letters, copies of Orwell's books inscribed to the Collings family are also to be auctioned. | Alongside the letters, copies of Orwell's books inscribed to the Collings family are also to be auctioned. |
Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair in 1903 and is best-known for writing Animal Farm, published in 1945, and Nineteen Eighty Four, published four years later. | |
Dennis Collings, son of the Blair family doctor, and Eleanor Jacques, the Blair's next-door-neighbour, were two of Orwell's closest friends during the years he lived in Southwold. | |
The letters are written to friends Eleanor Jacques and Dennis Collings | |
Although Eleanor Jacques and Orwell were close for a time, she married Collings in 1934. | |
Orwell died of tuberculosis in 1950. | |
David Park from Bonhams said the auction was a major literary event as the author's letters rarely came on to the market. | David Park from Bonhams said the auction was a major literary event as the author's letters rarely came on to the market. |
"They are very interesting in terms of his friendships with both Dennis Collings and Eleanor - who Orwell was clearly very fond of," he said. | "They are very interesting in terms of his friendships with both Dennis Collings and Eleanor - who Orwell was clearly very fond of," he said. |
"Also he's writing about trying to get his early works published and that's of great importance as his own account of his struggle to get his works into print." | "Also he's writing about trying to get his early works published and that's of great importance as his own account of his struggle to get his works into print." |