Honresfield Library Appeal

This may be an issue that only appeals to a minority of those who visit this blog, but I thought I should raise it. You may have seen in the media mention of the Honresfield Library, which is coming up for sale. It is an incredible collection of literary manuscripts, assembled at the end of the 19th century by William Law, a Rochdale mill-owner living at Honresfield, a few miles from Haworth. The bulk of the Library has remained in family ownership, and it has remained largely intact. Here is just part of the description by the Friends of the National Libraries:

At the Library’s heart lies an astonishing set of manuscripts in the hands of the Brontë siblings, much of which has been unseen for 80 years and never properly examined.  It includes seven of Charlotte Brontë’s famous ‘little books’, each of which is a work of art; a manuscript collection of poems by Anne Brontë; some 25 letters by Charlotte Brontë; and a small but exquisite autograph manuscript diary note shared by Emily and Anne Brontë. The absolute jewel of the Brontë collection is Emily Brontë’s holograph notebook of 31 poems, believed by many scholars to have been lost. This poetry notebook carries annotations in Charlotte’s hand. The printed treasures of the sisters include Emily Brontë’s own annotated copy of their first publication, the exceptionally rare Poems of 1846, and fine presentation copies of first editions of their novels in their original cloth bindings. 

Jane Austen is represented by two hugely significant letters to her sister Cassandra (only three early such autograph letters are held in any UK national collection, the bulk being in the Morgan Library, New York). One is a very early letter, written on the eve of a ball where she anticipated the end of a love affair; the second dates from 1813 and discusses the reception of both Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. The collection also includes first editions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Northanger Abbey and Persuasion in their original condition.

And there's more, much more. It is essential that this collection is not dispersed into private hands, and the Friends of the National Libraries have launched an appeal to save it for the nation. Compared to the usual appeals to save some indifferent painting by some Italian renaissance painter due to be auctioned off by some impoverished aristo, this is on a wholly different level of significance to our national heritage, I hope you'd agree.

The FNL appeal is here, with a link to a "Big Give" donation site. If, like me, you feel this is an essential, once-only opportunity to save some artefacts of real cultural significance, then I'd urge you to make a donation.

Not Haworth Moor, but you get the idea...