The Lost Orwell

Peter Davison

When the 8,500 pages of George Orwell's writings and letters were published in 1998 it was realised that, despite vigorous investigations, one or two items might well turn up. Nevertheless, it is astonishing that seventy-six letters as well as several other important items should have surfaced.

The letters reproduced in The Lost Orwell have proved to be as important as they are surprising. Those letters which Eileen, Orwell's first wife, wrote to a close university friend give a fascinating insight into her life with Orwell; especially the difficult weeks when they were first married, her warm regard for her husband’s family, especially Orwell’s father, Richard Blair, and her close relationship with Orwell's commandant in Spain, Georges Kopp. These are all expressed with the wit and charm to be found in the letters we already knew.

There is a long sequence of letters exchanged between Orwell and the French translator of his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London.

Among other important letters are those to the editor of the Moscow journal, International Literature, who would shortly after be shot in a Gulag, to a Catalan colleague with whom he fought in Spain and recently released from prison, the sole surviving letter of an exchange of letters to a woman previously unknown with whom Orwell discussed contemporary literature, and those attempting to censor his work, by, for example, Lord David Cecil.

The Lost Orwell also includes the mysterious list of names of crypto-communists and fellow travellers which Orwell sent to Celia Kirwan at the Information Research Department in 1949, and Orwell’s obituary of H. G. Wells.

In addition to editing Orwell's complete works, Peter Davison has produced another half-dozen books on Orwell. He was appointed OBE for services to English literature in 1999 and awarded the Gold Medal of the Bibliographical Society in 2003.

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