New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) In a key scientific feat, letters written by the late Everest mountaineer George Mallory, which survived 75 years in his jacket pocket before his body was discovered, have been digitised and made available to a global audience for the first time.
The bulk of the collection is made up of letters written between Mallory and his wife Ruth, from the time of their engagement in 1914 until his death on Everest in 1924.
Among them are the very last letter he wrote before his final Everest summit attempt and three letters that were retrieved from his body in 1999.
These letters have now been made available in the centenary year of Mallory’s fatal attempt to scale Everest.
The letters are free to view on the website of Magdalene College, University of Cambridge.
“It has been a real pleasure to work with these letters,” said College archivist Katy Green.
“Whether it’s George’s wife Ruth writing about how she was posting him plum cakes and a grapefruit to the trenches (he said the grapefruit wasn’t ripe enough), or whether it’s his poignant last letter where he says the chances of scaling Everest are ‘50 to 1 against us’, they offer a fascinating insight into the life of this famous Magdalene alumnus,” Green noted.
An alumnus of Magdalene College, Mallory is known for purportedly replying “because it’s there” when asked by a reporter why he wanted to climb Everest.
The letters cover some fascinating topics including his first reconnaissance mission to Everest in 1921.
There were no existing records or maps, it was uncharted and this was the mission to see if it was even possible to get to the base of Everest.
“The letters to Mallory from his wife Ruth are a major source of women’s social history, covering a wide variety of topics about her life as a woman living through the First World War,” according to the university.
–IANS
na/uk
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
