Collection GB 0103 ORWELL - George Orwell Papers

16 boxes, 49 volumes, 10 files, c200 photographs

GB 0103 ORWELL 1875-[1997] Collection 16 boxes, 49 volumes, 10 files, c200 photographs Blair , Eric Arthur , 1903-1950 , novelist and journalist known as George Orwell

Born in Motihari, Bengal, India, 25 June 1903; educated at Eton, 1917-1921; served in Burma in the Indian Imperial Police, 1922-1928; lived for several years in poverty, as a dish-washer in Paris, France, and as a tramp in England, 1928-1931; school teacher at the Hawthorns, Middlesex, 1932-1933; part-time assistant in a Hampstead bookshop, London, 1934-1935; wrote books and novels, 1933-1949; married Eileen Maud O'Shaughnessy (died 1945), 1936; reviewer of novels for the New English Weekly, until 1940; visited areas of mass unemployment in Lancashire and Yorkshire, 1936; wounded in Spain fighting for the Republicans, 1937; member of the Home Guard during World War Two; worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation Eastern Service, 1940-1943; Literary Editor of Tribune, 1943-1945; war correspondent for the Observer, 1945; regular contributor to the Manchester Evening News, 1943-1946; suffered from tuberculosis, often in hospital, 1947-1950; married Sonia Mary Brownell, 1949; died, 21 January 1950. Publications: Down and out in Paris and London (Victor Gollancz, London, 1933); Burmese days (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1934); The road to Wigan pier (Victor Gollancz, London, 1937); Homage to Catalonia (Secker & Warburg, London, 1938); Coming up for air (Victor Gollancz, London, 1939); The lion and the unicorn (Secker & Warburg, London, 1941); Animal farm (Secker & Warburg, London, 1945); Critical essays (Secker & Warburg, London, 1946); The English people (Collins, London, 1947); Nineteen eighty-four (Secker & Warburg, London, 1949); Shooting an elephant, and other essays (Secker & Warburg, London, 1950).

Manuscripts, notebooks and personalia of George Orwell were presented in 1960 on permanent loan by his widow on behalf of the George Orwell Archive Trust, which have been supplemented by donations from family, friends and business associates, and by purchases. More detailed provenance is given at lower levels of description.

Papers of and relating to George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), 1875-[1997], comprising manuscripts and typescripts, 1917-1959 (Ref: A); literary notebooks, 1939-[1949] (Ref: B); Spanish Civil War material, 1936-1939 (Ref: C); general notebooks, 1943-[1950] (Ref: D); political diaries, 1938-1942 (Ref: E); domestic diaries, 1938-1948 (Ref: F); letters from Orwell, 1911-1949 (Ref: G); letters to Orwell, 1928-1950 (Ref: H); associated material, 1935-1949 (Ref: I); personalia, 1903-1971 (Ref: J); Eileen Blair papers [1920s]-1967 (Ref: K); family papers, 1875-1968 (Ref: L); posthumous material, 1950-1972 (Ref: M); proofs, 1932-1953 (Ref: N); radio scripts, 1943-1957 (Ref: O); adaptation scripts and screenplays of Orwell's work, 1952-1986 (Ref: P); documentary scripts, 1946-1983, of recorded interviews about Orwell (Ref: Q); audio-visual cassettes, 1983-[1997], about Orwell and his work (Ref: R); Sonia Orwell papers, 1937-1977 (Ref: S); photographs, 1893-1984 (Ref: T).

Arranged in sub-fonds as indicated in Scope and Content.

Certain restrictions apply. Parts of the collection are closed. Please contact UCL Special Collections for further information.

Generally normal copyright restrictions apply; however, the BBC scripts are not to be copied without the prior permission of the Orwell estate and the Head of Copyright at the BBC. Please contact UCL Special Collections for further information.
English, with some French, German and Japanese.

Online catalogue available. More detailed descriptions are available on a hard copy handlist. Please contact UCL Special Collections for further information.

University College London Special Collections also holds correspondence and papers of Sir Richard Rees (George Orwell's literary executor) relating to Orwell, including letters from his wife Sonia, 1949-1950 (Ref: REES).

The British Library, Manuscript Collections, holds letters received by Orwell (Ref: Add MS 49384). See also Location register of twentieth-century English literary manuscripts (1988).

Sources: British Library on-line public access catalogue 1997; UK National Register of Archives; Who's Who 1897-1996 (A & C Black, 1996); Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 1996); The collected essays, journalism and letters of George Orwell vols 1-4, edited by Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (Secker & Warburg, London, 1968); George Orwell, a life by Bernard Crick (Secker & Warburg, London, 1980). Compiled by Annabel Dodds as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. Jul 2000; updated May 2018 Audiovisual materials Authors Blair , Eileen Maud , 1905-1945 , née O'Shaughnessy , first wife of Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) x O'Shaughnessy , Eileen Maud Blair , Eric Arthur , 1903-1950 , novelist and journalist known as George Orwell x Orwell , George Blair , family Blair , Sonia Mary , 1918-1980 , née Brownell , second wife of George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) x Brownell , Sonia Mary x Orwell , Sonia Mary Broadcasting Broadcasting programmes Civil war Communication personnel Diaries Documents Editing Information sources Journalists Literary forms and genres Literature Nonfiction Photographs Political movements Primary documents Programme content Prose Publishing Publishing industry Radio Radio programmes Recordings Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) Television Television programmes Video recordings Visual materials Writers Personnel People by occupation People

Manuscripts, notebooks and personalia of George Orwell were presented in 1960 on permanent loan by his widow on behalf of the George Orwell Archive Trust, which have been supplemented by donations from family, friends and business associates, and by purchases. More detailed provenance is given at lower levels of description.

Papers of and relating to George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), 1875-[1997], comprising manuscripts and typescripts, 1917-1959 (Ref: A); literary notebooks, 1939-[1949] (Ref: B); Spanish Civil War material, 1936-1939 (Ref: C); general notebooks, 1943-[1950] (Ref: D); political diaries, 1938-1942 (Ref: E); domestic diaries, 1938-1948 (Ref: F); letters from Orwell, 1911-1949 (Ref: G); letters to Orwell, 1928-1950 (Ref: H); associated material, 1935-1949 (Ref: I); personalia, 1903-1971 (Ref: J); Eileen Blair papers [1920s]-1967 (Ref: K); family papers, 1875-1968 (Ref: L); posthumous material, 1950-1972 (Ref: M); proofs, 1932-1953 (Ref: N); radio scripts, 1943-1957 (Ref: O); adaptation scripts and screenplays of Orwell's work, 1952-1986 (Ref: P); documentary scripts, 1946-1983, of recorded interviews about Orwell (Ref: Q); audio-visual cassettes, 1983-[1997], about Orwell and his work (Ref: R); Sonia Orwell papers, 1937-1977 (Ref: S); photographs, 1893-1984 (Ref: T).

Arranged in sub-fonds as indicated in Scope and Content.

Certain restrictions apply. Parts of the collection are closed. Please contact UCL Special Collections for further information.

Generally normal copyright restrictions apply; however, the BBC scripts are not to be copied without the prior permission of the Orwell estate and the Head of Copyright at the BBC. Please contact UCL Special Collections for further information.

• English

• Latin

English, with some French, German and Japanese.

University College London Special Collections also holds correspondence and papers of Sir Richard Rees (George Orwell's literary executor) relating to Orwell, including letters from his wife Sonia, 1949-1950 (Ref: REES).

Online catalogue available. More detailed descriptions are available on a hard copy handlist. Please contact UCL Special Collections for further information.

The British Library, Manuscript Collections, holds letters received by Orwell (Ref: Add MS 49384). See also Location register of twentieth-century English literary manuscripts (1988).

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• English