Hemingway's Relics at JFK Museum Reveal Pieces of Iconic Author's Past in Cuba
Ernest Hemingway fans who celebrate the iconic author's American classics will be thrilled to learn that another window to his life has been open, revealing more details about the complex character -- from what concoction he liked to drink at the bar to what he like to cook in the kitchen.
Bar bills, personal notes, telegrams and even recipes from Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway are available-at least in digital form-for the first time at Boston's John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, according to The Associated Press.
The 2,500 digitally scanned materials that capture his everyday life in Cuba were housed at Hemingway's former Cuban estate, called the Finca Vigía, where he resided for 21 years. He died in 1961.
"It's a personal peek into his life -- it's just wonderful," said Susan Wrynn, an Ernest Hemingway curator at the Kennedy Library.
The release of the artifacts marks the first time that the material is available for examination by researchers in the United States. Unfortunately, these artifacts are not open to the public, the AP points out.
What other interesting materials can researchers examine?
"The collection includes car insurance for a 1941 Plymouth station wagon, a license to carry arms in Cuba, bull fighting tickets and even a recipe from his fourth wife, Mary Hemingway, for 'Papa's Favorite Hamburger,'" the AP adds.
"There is also a telegram from Dr. Anders Osterling of the Swedish Academy telling Ernest Hemingway that he has been awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature. A first wave of material was released to the library in 2008."
Hemingway's Cuban residence, Finca Vigía, was also a source of inspiration for his writing. It was there Hemingway's most famous works came to fruition, including For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea.
Thanks to the U.S. Finca Vigía Foundation, under an agreement with the Cuban Council of National Heritage, the collection was made available to researchers.
Boston's Kennedy Library honors the legendary American author by having "the world's largest collection of Hemingway's life and work, containing 90 percent of his manuscript material."
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