By Martin Finucane
The Associated Press

A collection of intimate letters written by Ernest Hemingway to actress Marlene Dietrich has been donated to the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston.

The collection includes 30 letters, telegrams and a Christmas card that were written between 1949 and 1959, as well as early drafts of several Hemingway poems and stories. Under the terms of the gift, donated by Dietrich's daughter, Maria Riva, the correspondence can't be opened to the public until 2007.

Deborah Leff, director of the library, said Monday she had seen the letters and they were "breathtaking."

"The letters are beautifully written. They show a tremendous intimacy. . . . There's a sense of sharing souls," she said.

They had a "devoted friendship" that produced "some truly wonderful memorabilia," Riva said in a statement, calling the Kennedy Library a "sanctuary . . . that would guard them and treat them with the respect they so richly deserve."

Hemingway declared his love for Dietrich in at least one of the letters, but the relationship was platonic, descendants of the two said.

Riva's son, Peter Riva, a literary agent, released excerpts from two letters, both written in 1950.

In one, Hemingway wrote, "I love you too you beauty, indestructible," and closed with, "I love you very much and hope you are well and happy and try to maintain a little communication." He signed with a handwritten "Papa."

In a second letter, Hemingway, who as a correspondent covered the Spanish Civil War and used it as the setting of For Whom the Bell Tolls," confided to Dietrich, "I've been in love (truly) with five women, the Spanish Republic and the 4th Infantry Division."

The Kennedy Library is home to most of Hemingway's papers, including 95 percent of his manuscripts and correspondence.