FNL forms consortium to save literary treasure trove for the nation FNL is leading a bid to save Honresfield Library a treasure trove of literary manuscripts.

Read all: fnl.org.uk/50-fnl-forms-consortium-to-save-literary-treasure-trove-for-the-nation

Friends of the National Libraries has announced that it is leading a bid to save one of the most important private collections of manuscripts and printed books associated with some of the greatest writers in the United Kingdom.  FNL is today launching an appeal and is in discussion with private philanthropists and sources of public funds to raise the purchase price of £15million. FNL, and the participating libraries and museums listed below, are profoundly grateful to the vendors and their representatives Sotheby’s for deciding to postpone the auction of the first part of the library, originally announced for July, in order to preserve the entire library as a collection to be allocated to libraries around the UK for the benefit of the public.

Friends of the National Libraries is the only UK charity that focuses on saving our written and printed heritage, by giving acquisition grants to regional, national and specialist archives and libraries throughout the UK.  Its national role makes it ideally placed to spearhead the campaign to purchase the Honresfield Library.  Today it launches an appeal for funds to enable the Honresfield Library to be preserved and shared across the United Kingdom.

Taking a UK-wide approach to acquiring the Honresfield Library, FNL, along with a consortium of libraries and museums, will work to raise the substantial funds needed to acquire the Honresfield Library and will then pass ownership of every individual item to the appropriate national, regional and specialist institution across the UK that will benefit the widest possible public.

 A major and co-ordinated effort is needed to save this astonishingly important collection.  The consortium of institutions that has come together to realise this vision includes:

Abbotsford: The Home of Walter Scott, Melrose, Scotland;
The Bodleian Libraries, Oxford;
The British Library, London and Yorkshire;
The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh;
The Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, Yorkshire;
Jane Austen’s House, Chawton, Hampshire;
The Brotherton Library, University of Leeds;
The National Trust for Scotland: The Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Alloway.
Taking an innovative approach, FNL will ensure that the Honresfield collection will be cared for and made available in institutions across the UK, enabling the widest possible audience to see, study and enjoy this pre-eminent material.

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