A set of four scarves owned by George Orwell while fighting in the Spanish civil war are expected to sell for between ?�800-1,200 ($1,278-1,917) at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions in London on October 3.
The lot includes the scarf he was wearing when he was shot in the neck by a sniper.
The scarves are decorated with anti-fascist slogans and artwork, and feature strong provenance. One scarf is marked with a small hole and bloodstains, and is confirmed to have been worn by the author at Huesca in 1937, where he received his wound.
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The scarves were given to the father of the consignor by the field doctor who treated Orwell following the shooting.
Orwell described the event in his book, Homage to Catalonia: "I had been about ten days at the front when it happened. The whole experience of being hit by a bullet is very interesting.
"Suddenly, in the very middle of saying something, I felt--it is very hard to describe what I felt, though I remember it with the utmost vividness. Roughly speaking it was the sensation of being at the center of an explosion.
"Webb, our stretcher-bearer, had brought a bandage and one of the little bottles of alcohol they gave us for field-dressings. The doctor re-bandaged the wound, gave me a shot of morphine, and sent me off to Sietamo."
Other notable lots at the auction include a rare first edition of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice valued at ?�20,000-25,000 ($31,964-39,955) and a copy of the Cologne Chronicles with an estimate of ?�12,000-18,000 ($19,178-28,767).
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