George Orwell's letters, contracts and readers' reports related to his earliest novels are in historical papers that were preserved after the outcry over the initial spread.

University College London (UCL) said it has obtained archives of 19 eighty-four author publishers as "a valuable work of British cultural heritage".

About 160 projects dating back to 1934-1937 will be added to the Orwell Archives in the UCL Special Collection, which is the most comprehensive research material held in the world with which it relates.

These papers provide extraordinary insights to one of the most influential British writers of the 20th century.

They are related to four of his earliest published works - the daughter of the clergy, keeping aspidista flying, the road to Wigan Pier Inside the whale - And including his observations of European politics in the 1930s, which helped shape his thoughts and ideas.

The series belongs to his publisher Victor Gollancz, who founded one of the most important publishers of the 20th century.

The company was acquired by Orion Group, owned by French multinational company Lagardère, which became part of Hachette, which decided to sell the archives because its warehouse was closed and was denounced as cultural vandalism last year.

Incredibly, such important papers have been trapped in dozens of rusty, dusty filing cabinets as they realize they have been sold.

Rick Gekoski, a leading antique bookseller, was asked to dispose of Gollancz Archive, which included letters with Kingsley Amis and Daphne Du Maurier along with other authors of the publisher. He recalled that the decision was approved by the then Orion Director of Publication and Board of Directors. He wrote in his 2021 book Dragon, “No one on the Orion board cares about where they go, or who they go.”

He tried in vain to sell the entire archive to various institutions and then allocated it to dozens of dealers, private collectors and libraries.

Among those close, UCL recalled that he turned down funds, although the fees were much less than the £154,000 he paid now.

When told UCL that it had been close before, he said: "Why are we not (close to them)? This is the Orwell Archives."

Liz Thomson, who has reported the book deal for 35 years, warned that she lost her "priceless" archive when she heard about its spread. She was frustrated to learn that a dealer had sold Gollancz's animal farm letters for £100,000. It includes Orwell's 1944 letter calling it "a small fairy tale of political significance."

The publisher's sales contrasts with Richard Blair's extraordinary generosity, written by Richard Blair's father, Eric Blair, under the pseudonym George Orwell. In 2021, he purchased 50 letters and donated them to the Orwell Archives at UCL, fearing they would otherwise continue the market. "Then they will never see each other again," he said.

"I'm very happy and relieved that the Orwell Archive has taken the filming of the Gollancz Papers and that they have not been scattered in the ether by various collectors and can never be seen again," he said.

The new acquisition has manuscript notebooks, personal papers, and the first handwritten notes of some of Orwell's most famous words and phrases, such as "Two Minutes of Hate", "Newspeak" and "War is Peace. Ignorance is Power. Freedom is Slavery."

UCL's purchases from Jonkers Rare Books and Peter Harrington Rare Books were made with the support of the National Heritage Memorial Foundation and Friends of the National Library.

UCL Special Collections curator Sarah Aitchison said the series reveals the editing process behind Orwell’s published work and the legal anxieties that stimulate the amendment.

She noted that Gollancz's slanderous concerns throughout the letter have always existed, and publishers often asked Orwell to change names and details to reduce similarities with real people, places and companies.

For example, papers related to keeping Aspidistra flying Shows that he is frustrated with the requested change. He admitted helplessly: "These changes completely ruin the book."

"It's an absolutely wonderful treasure trove from the perspective of Orwell and publishing history...Literary manuscripts have the terrible habit of disappearing on the vaults of private collectors and never seeing them again, so everyone can use them."

Last year, Professor Jean Sidon, director of the Orwell Foundation, said in surprise that the publisher failed to understand the value of the archives.

She believes that such literary archives should not be scattered to collectors who want "trophy".

"There are a lot of people with a lot of money who want a trophy. But then you lose track of them and they disappear until they appear in the market again."

"We're excited. Little by little, all of these really important Orwell materials are finding a way for UCL, and that should be the real place," said Bill Hamilton, a literary agent and executor of Orwell Property, of the acquisition.

Orion declined to comment.