Rare project saves Hemingway papers
An important collection of papers belonging to the American writer Ernest Hemingway has been saved for posterity, thanks to a unique joint rescue mission involving communist Cuba and the United States.
The letters, manuscripts and documents offer fresh insights into the man, his work and his colourful life.
For decades they had been gathering mould and dust in the basement of the Nobel Prize winning author's former home on the outskirts of Havana.
The Cubans were working hard to preserve the house and its contents but did not have the resources to protect the documents.
In a rare exception to the trade embargo, the Bush administration agreed to allow a joint rescue mission.
In 2002 the Cuban National Cultural Heritage Council signed a co-operation agreement with the New York based Social Science Research Council.
US conservation and digitalisation specialists made regular trips to Havana while two Cuban restoration experts went to the US for additional training.
Read entire article at BBC
The letters, manuscripts and documents offer fresh insights into the man, his work and his colourful life.
For decades they had been gathering mould and dust in the basement of the Nobel Prize winning author's former home on the outskirts of Havana.
The Cubans were working hard to preserve the house and its contents but did not have the resources to protect the documents.
In a rare exception to the trade embargo, the Bush administration agreed to allow a joint rescue mission.
In 2002 the Cuban National Cultural Heritage Council signed a co-operation agreement with the New York based Social Science Research Council.
US conservation and digitalisation specialists made regular trips to Havana while two Cuban restoration experts went to the US for additional training.