George Orwell | Autograph letter signed, to Amy Byrne, arranging a meeting, 23 June 1944

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)

Autograph letter signed ("E. Blair"), to Amy Byrne

detailing his usual weekly movements between his home and the offices of Tribune, in order to make lunch arrangements to meet her and her husband, also promising her a book ("...I'll try & find a copy of 'Burmese Days for you. These Penguins are sold out as soon as published nowadays, but I believe I have a few copies somewhere..."), 1 page, 4to, 10a Mortimer Crescent, London NW6, 23 June 1944, small nicks at edges, rust mark from paperclip, nicks

Amy Charlesworth, with whom Orwell had corresponded in 1937 (see lots 270-271), had now married her second husband Gerry Byrne. In a sure sign of Orwell's burgeoning popularity, Penguin books had recently published a reprint of Orwell's 1934 novel Burmese Days. The reprint, in an edition of 60,000 copies, was published on 11 May 1944. 

LITERATURE

The Complete Works of George Orwell: Volume 16 (1998), p.265