Rescued.

The author CS Lewis loved reading his translation of Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid to fellow Oxford-based writers, including JRR Tolkien, at the Inklings, the famous informal literary discussion group they both frequented.

The translation was believed to have been lost in a bonfire in 1964, a year after the author's death. Now, nearly 50 years later, it has resurfaced. The work was apparently rescued by Lewis's former secretary, Walter Hooper, 79. The complete translation is to be published in the book CS Lewis's Lost Aeneid, which is out next month.

"Although it had been known that Lewis had worked on this translation, no one realised that portions still survived until Walter began sifting through his material," said the book's editor, Andy Reyes. "The bonfire, it was assumed, had consumed the most significant fragments of Lewisiana."

"Major Lewis, after setting aside those papers which had special significance for him, began disposing of the others," wrote Hooper. "Thus it was that a great many things which I was never able to identify found their way on to a bonfire which burned steadily for three days."

Read the rest here.

Here it is.