Rare Hemingway Works Going to University of South Carolina

A Hemingway collector has bequeathed his collection to USC.

From a piece in the Huffington Post...

The 70-year-old Grissom was joined by his wife Julie, 46, at a special showing of the collection in the Ernest F. Hollings Special Collection Library on USC's Columbia campus. Dozens of books in their original dust jackets, along with pamphlets, magazines, proofs and papers are on display in glass-covered cases.

Teachers will be able to access the collection to help students better understand Hemingway's creative writing process, university officials said.

"It provides a tremendous resource. It makes writing real in a very powerful way," said William Rivers, chairman of the university's English Department. "There is no other place in the world now where scholars can go to look at Hemingway's primary materials."

Grissom said his efforts began in his 20s as a medical student, and grew over the years. From the time he first read "The Green Hills of Africa," until he published his own bibliography of Hemingway's work in 2011, Grissom said he intended his collection to be used by scholars.

Grissom said the collection includes more than 1,200 copies of novels and first editions as well as 2,500 additional items such as editor's proofs that few collectors even know exist.