The edition of Animal Farm which includes Orwell’s thoughts on what inspired him to write the book

A RARE Ukrainian language edition of George Orwell’s political satire Animal Farm is heading to a new home this week – after the US-based daughters of the original translator heard it was for sale and met an asking price of nearly £2,000.

After the New Journal reported last month that the book – one of a print run of 5,000, of which more than half were destroyed by Soviet officials – the daughters of Ihor Sevcenko, who translated the book in the 1940s, contacted Jarndyce Books in Bloomsbury and spent £1,850 securing a copy of their father’s work.

The proceeds are being donated to the Camden-based charity Families 4 Peace, who have been providing aid to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion.

The edition is historically important as it has the only introduction the author ever wrote for the biting takedown of Stalin’s Soviet Union. In it, he introduces the aim of the book, explaining how he was inspired to write it after watching a small boy driving a pack horse along a country lane.

SEE ALSO THE EDITION WHERE ORWELL EXPLAINS WHERE HE GOT THE IDEA FOR ANIMAL FARM

Translator Mr Sevcenko was working for a newspaper in Munich when he read Animal Farm in 1946 – and he began reading it aloud to refugees in displaced person camps he visited. He then translated the book – and wrote to Orwell for permission to print copies to give to Ukrainian refugees.

His daughters, Catherine, Liz, and Nancy Ševčenko, say they will donate the edition to a library or institute so it is publicly accessible.

The Ševčenkos added that they were looking forward to sharing the volume with their children, who never met their grandfather, and explaining their family’s history. Jarndyce Books’ Paul Lee said: “We cannot imagine a better outcome for the book.”