The Honresfield library, including manuscripts by the Brontës, Jane Austen and Walter Scott, had been at risk of falling into private hands
It is an unprecedented treasure trove of the UK’s literary heritage, from a letter in which Jane Austen anticipates the end of a love affair, to a handwritten manuscript of Emily Brontë’s poems that was once believed lost. Now the Honresfield library has been saved for the nation after a charity raised more than £15m in just five months to acquire it.
Half the amount was donated by Sir Leonard Blavatnik, with a further £4m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF). The remainder was raised through donations from organisations including the TS Eliot and the Foyle foundations, another £2.5m from museums and libraries, and “thousands” of individual donations, which raised just under £150,000 from people around the world.
