IAN ANGUS COLLECTION

The late Ian Angus (1926-2022) was instrumental in establishing The Orwell Archive at University College London. Along with Sonia Brownell, he edited the seminal four-volume collection of Orwell’s writings, The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell (1968). The Orwell Archive now has Ian Angus’ papers but much of his personal library was auctioned. Reading his correspondence reveals that everyone sought his advice and contacts when they commenced an Orwellian project.

The Times included a brief obituary on the 12th November 2022:

“Ian Angus died peacefully on 30th October 2022, aged 96. He was the librarian at Kings College, London, and also an Orwell scholar. With Sonia Orwell he edited four volumes for Penguin of Orwell’s collected writings.”

Ian heavily annotated many of his books. Often they are inscribed and have loose papers inside. His annotations in Bernard Crick’s biography of Orwell (and the revised edition) are of particular interest. Take special note of the the inscription Jacintha Buddicom wrote in the copy of The Tale of Pigling Bland she gifted him with this timeline in mind.

The Collection

Blair, Eric, ‘Poem’, The Adelphi, Volume 7, Number 1, New Series, October 1933. pp.47-48.

Common, Jack, “Orwell at Wallington”, Stand, Volume 22, Number 3. pp. 32-43.

Crick, Bernard, George Orwell: A Life, London: Secker & Warburg. 1980. 473pp. First edition inscribed: “For Ian Angus, with the profoundest thanks for all your great and generous help. Bernard”.

Crick, Bernard, George Orwell: A Life, London: Secker & Warburg (revised edition) 1981. 473pp.

Coppard, Audrey & Crick, Bernard, Orwell Remembered, Ariel Books, 1984, 287pp.

Davison, Peter, Contemporary Drama and the Popular Dramatic Tradition in England, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1982. 204pp. (signed and inscribed to Ian Angus by the author)

Labedz, Leopold, ‘Will George Orwell Survive 1984?’, Encounter, June 1984, pp. 11-24pp.

Labedz, Leopold, ‘Will George Orwell Survive 1984?’, Encounter, July-August 1984, pp. 25-34.

Lehmann, John (editor), New Writing I: Spring 1936, London: Lawrence & Wishhart, 1937 (first cheap edition with George Orwell listed on the cover but no article appears in the book)

Orwell, George, Coming Up For Air, Penguin, 1969

Orwell, George, A Clergyman’s Daughter, Penguin, 1971

Orwell, George, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Penguin, 1958

Orwell, George, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Penguin, 1973

Orwell, George, ‘Writers and Leviathan’, Politics and Letters, Summer, No. 4, 1948. pp 36-40.

Orwell, George, Review of The Fate of the Middle Classes by Alec Brown, The Adelphi, Volume 12, Number 2, May 1936. pp. 127-128.

Orwell, George, ‘Poem’, The Adelphi, Volume 13, Number 3, December 1936. p.173

Orwell, George, ‘Song of the Beasts’, Compass: Current Reading, No. 1., December, 1945. p. 45.

Orwell, George, ‘Home Guard for Victory’ (review), Horizon: A Review of Literature and Art, Volume III, No. 15, March 1941. pp. 219-221.

Orwell, George, ‘In Defence of P. G. Wodehouse,’ The Windmill. June 1945, Volume 1, Number 2. pp. 10-19.

Оруэлл, Джордж, 1984, ND. This Russian translation (which is exactly the same as this one but has no ‘ROMA’ at the front or ‘ITALIA’ copyright page at the back) was probably published with Sonia Orwell’s support in Frankfurt by Possev as early as 1957.

Potter, Beatrix, The Tale of Pigling Bland, London: Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., 1970. 94pp. Inscribed to Ian Angus in 1971.

Russell, Leonard (ed), The Saturday Book 5, Hutchinson, 1945. 288pp.

Stansky, Peter & Abrahams, William, The Unknown Orwell, Constable, 1972. 271pp. Review Copy

Thompson, John, Orwell’s London, London: Fourth Estate, 1984, 120pp.

Wadhams, Stephen, Remembering Orwell, Penguin, 1984.

Williams, Gordon (General Editor), Stage, Screen and Society: Essays in Honour of Peter Davison, Trivium 20, Lampeter (Wales): Saint David’s University College, 1985. 218pp.

Willison, I.R.; Angus, Ian, ‘George Orwell: Bibliographical Addenda’, Bulletin of Biography and Magazine Notes, Vol. 24, No. 8, September-December, 1965. pp. 180-187

Wojenne, Dzienniki, Orwell, Gdańsk: L&L, 2006. 344pp. Polish biography inscribed by the author and gifted to Ian Angus.

Sincere thanks

Chris Edwards, proprietor of Skoob Books, is an extremely generous man near-gifting me the hoard of treasures listed above. He also showed me the sites at Sutton Courtenay in what was an informative and amusing day. I saw Orwell’s grave for the first time.

Chris is a raconteur and I greatly look forward to returning to Didcot where his warehouse – more a stately-pleasure-dome to this bibliophile – awaits me in 2025!

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