To Orwell Today,

Hi Jackie,

A couple of years ago I wrote and asked you for permission to use two facsimile pages from Nineteen Eighty-Four in my (then) soon-to-be completed Doctoral thesis. (That was c. March 2005 from a dot com.au address). You gave me the permission and I included the pages as A4 partitions to Divide the thesis into two sections. (I'm talking spiral bound examiner copies). Anyway, to cut a very long (and for me, an unpleasant) story short, I was awarded a PhD (yaay!) but have only just recently sent said thesis off for professional binding!

I am also about to submit a digital version of the same to Murdoch University Library, but they have asked me for the permission slip for the illustrations included. Alas, I cannot find your original email. Would it be too much to ask you for a simple statement of permission again?

Apparently the Library folks are concerned (rightly so I guess) that I may just have copied them without your permission. If that were the case I'd have to remove the offending articles but leave blank pages, which would ruin the effect. (The facsimile pages look good in situ by the way).

Also, I included a photo from the Vern Richards Estate, which I did just copy from an Orwell website. It's dated 1946, and is a portrait of Orwell in his Islington flat. After a fruitless search, I am still unable to track down the persons responsible for giving permission to use this photo. As you are an expert on all things Orwell do you know who I should contact? I've Googled Vern Richards, and the Vern Richards estate, but am none the wiser so far. (Frustrating!) I could actually just delete the photo (it'd be simpler) and it probably wouldn't matter too much, but the facsimiles (in my opinion) really must stay!

To find the thesis and see how I've used your pix you will need to Go to Murdoch Library (Perth W. Australia) then go to the Digital thesis page: http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/ and click on Find a Murdoch Thesis, then click on S-U. My name is David L. Urry. Don't do this for a week or so, cos obviously if I'm writing this I haven't submitted it yet! But that's just to satisfy you that this is legit, and not the ramblings of a maniac!

I apologise for being long-winded, but (for me) this is important, and an explanation is in order. If you could help me out here it'd be brilliant! I'd hate to have to delete what is essentially a valid part of my Orwell thesis.

Think that covers everything!

Regards,
Dave Urry
PS. Keep up the great work!

Dear Dave,

Yes, I remember you writing from Australia regarding your Orwell thesis and giving you permission to use those facsimilie pages from my MANUSCRIPT OF 1984. I went and found our email exchange in the Readers' Email section of the website:

Dave would like to use illustrations of the manuscript of "1984" in his PhD thesis on Orwell's writing & journalism

So once again, yes, you have my permission to use those pages and I do appreciate being cited.

Regarding the Vern Richards photo, I have an article on the website entitled ORWELL & THE ANARCHISTS where I've scanned the front and back cover of the book of photos he took of GEORGE ORWELL AT HOME that day in 1946 (shortly before Orwell moved to his "island in the Hebrides" to write "1984"). Scattered throughout my website I've scanned a few photos from that book, but maybe not the particular one you're talking about. Describe the photo and I'll look for it if you want. It would be a shame to exclude it from the professionally bound copy of your thesis.

I've actually been inside Orwell's Islington flat and seen the photos on the wall that Vernon Richards took. See 27B CANONBURY SQUARE PHOTOS

Congratulations on the completion of your Orwell thesis and PhD (piled higher & deeper) and thanks for sending along the info on how a person can read it. I'll definitely get around to doing that.

I have a soft spot for Perth, where your university is located, because I lived there for about three months back in the early 70s before crossing the Nullarbor Plain to the other side of your vast and beautiful country. I drove to Broken Hill, then Sydney, then up through Brisbane to Townsville where I worked for awhile - then back down to Sydney where I lived for around a year. I learned a bit of Ozzie-speak like "fair dinkum" and "don't be a sticky beak" and acquired a taste for putting "beet root" on hamburgers.

All the best,
Jackie Jura

To Orwell Today,

That's great! It's the same one as on your page ORWELL & THE ANARCHISTS. Don't know what the odds for that kind of thing happening are, but it's a fitting conclusion. I'm certain that it will satisfy the Library folks here. This is how I'll deal with it on the page:

List of illustrations:

Figure 1: George Orwell, Islington, North London (1946). Photograph by Vern Richards. [I WILL THEN ADD CITATION & LINK IT TO YOUR PAGE FOR THE DIGITAL COPY].

Figure 2: Additional information about the Nineteen Eighty-Four facsimiles can be found on Jackie Jura's website: Orwell Today: http://www.orwelltoday.com/manuscript1984.shtml (12/03/2005).

Figure 3: This facsimile page from Nineteen Eighty-Four can be found on Jackie Jura's website: Orwell Today: http://www.orwelltoday.com/manuscript1984.shtml (12/03/2005).

Thanks for the help! Eliminated a fair bit of stressful searching!

Regards,
Dave Urry

Greetings Dave,

The odds are in our favour when it's got anything to do with George Orwell.

All the best, Dr Urry,
Jackie Jura

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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