>The last I had read in the press stated that the original agreement
>between Russian government and the Foundation called for a 50/50 split of
>profits. Speculations were that the Russian share has been upped to 65%.
It looks like the Russians have learned what we here in the States have
become pretty good at. Cashing in on our history. Sadly, though, they
went about it in a rather underhanded way, misusing their diplomatic
immunity, and jeopardiuzing the collection in the process. Russia has
ignored so much of her pre-revolutionary past that Russians were not aware
that there's a marketing quality to history. I call it "heritage
capitalism." Don't knock it. It keeps our museums open.
Cheers,
HBC
*****************************************
Henry B. Crawford Curator of History
[log in to unmask] Museum of Texas Tech University
806/742-2442 Box 43191
FAX 742-1136 Lubbock, TX 79409-3191
WEBSITE: http://www.ttu.edu/~museum
********* Life is a trip. Enjoy the ride! *********