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BOOKS AND LETTERS FROM THE LIBRARY OF ANTHONY POWELL
Lot 306

ORWELL (GEORGE)
Keep the Aspidistra Flying, FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR "Geo. Orwell" on front free endpaper, Victor Gollancz, 1936

24 June 2015, 11:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £10,625 inc. premium

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ORWELL (GEORGE)

Keep the Aspidistra Flying, FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR "Geo. Orwell" on front free endpaper, publisher's cloth, worn [Fenwick A4a], 8vo, Victor Gollancz, 1936

Footnotes

On the publication of Keep the Aspidistra Flying in 1936, Orwell received a letter of praise from Anthony Powell, instigating "one of his most substantial adult friendships... Powell was impressed by the novel's grimly realistic quality, while noting that the form, style and views expressed seemed markedly old-fashioned" (D.J. Taylor, Orwell, 2003, p.187). In his reply to Powell Orwell wrote "Yes, the reviewers are awful, so much so that in a general way I prefer the ones who lose their temper & call me names to the silly asses who mean so well & never bother to discover what you are writing about" (8 June 1936). D.J. Taylor identifies the importance of Powell to Orwell, the second chapter of his Life titled "A Question of Upbringing" after the first volume in Powell's celebrated Dance to the Music of Time novel sequence. He fully outlines their connection from shared experiences at Eton, their close personal friendship during Orwell's most successful years, and, finally, Powell helping to organise Orwell's funeral, engaging "the vicar of Christ Church, Albany Street, where the Powells worshipped, to conduct the service in London... [After the service] the majority of the congregation repaired to the Powells' house in Chester Gate" and "a quarter of a century later Anthony Powell remembered the service as one of the most harrowing he had ever attended".

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