Letter to Fredric Warburg (24 August 1949)

Cranham Lodge, Cranham, Gloucester 24 August 1949 Dear Fred, Thanks so much for your letter & good wishes. I arranged with Moreland to come to his London hospital for a month or two, but haven’t fixed a date yet—I suppose in 2-3 weeks. I don’t know if there is really any other treatment they can try on me, but both he & the people here seem to think that a change would do me good. As to the proposed book of essays. Apart from those on Conrad and Gissing, which I intend to be long essays, perhaps 15,000 words the two combined, I propose reprinting the following: Lear, Tolstoy & the Fool (Polemic 1947) about 6,000 Politics vs. Literature (on Swift) (Polemic 19471) about 6,000 Reflections on Gandhi (Partisan Review 1949) about 3000 Politics & the English Language (Horizon 1946) about 6000 Shooting an Elephant (New Writing 1936) about 3000 How the Poor Die (Now 19452) about 3000 It needs the two new essays, which in any case I want to write, when I can. Love to all George ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ Warburg replied on 26 August, thanking Orwell for the good news that he hoped soon to [...]