Macclesfield Psalter Saved for the Nation

April 2006The triumphant acquisition of the Macclesfield Psalter was the culmination of an intensive campaign and public appeal launched by The Art Fund. This remarkable medieval manuscript was saved for the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in early 2005.

Unknown and unrecorded until its discovery in 2003 by Sotheby’s in the library of the Earl of Macclesfield, the manuscript excited the interest of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge – as the Psalter was produced in East Anglia in the early 14th century. The museum applied to the Art Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for grants to help them with their auction bid. The Art Fund offered £400,000 but the HLF declined to give a grant on the grounds that the application failed to meet their key requirements of ‘access and education’. Subsequently the Psalter was bought at auction in June 2004 by the Getty Museum, California.

However the Fitzwilliam Museum was given a second chance when the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art placed an export-stop on the work. The Committee recognised the exceptional nature of the rare, 14th-century book of psalms by awarding a ‘starred rating’ to the Psalter, meaning that every possible effort should be made to raise enough money to keep it in the UK.

The Art Fund’s Board of Trustees was also convinced that the Psalter should remain in the UK, and decided to raise its grant to £500,000 – a bold gesture to attract other funders. Following discussions with the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Art Fund decided to launch a public campaign to save the Psalter for the museum and called on the HLF Trustees to reconsider their decision.

The public appeal was launched on the BBC’s ‘Culture Show’. The announcement of the Art Fund’s £500,000, together with an animated feature, prompted an enthusiastic response from the public and donations began to pour in. In September 2004, the Fitzwilliam Museum allocated £100,000 from its own funds and their Friends pledged £50,000. They were evidently captivated by the bizarre and exuberant illuminations which illustrated the manuscript. Many scholars and well-known figures also added their support.

The success of the campaign convinced the Government that a serious fundraising effort was underway and in November the export ban was extended until 10 February 2005. The campaign received a major boost when it was announced in November that the National Heritage Memorial Fund was to give £860,000. Reflecting a concerted effort to keep the media interest in the appeal high, a Times article in January prompted the largest number of hotline donations in one day since the launch of the appeal.

In early 2005 and with just weeks to go before the export-stop deadline, the target of £1.7m was finally reached. The Getty Museum gracefully withdrew their licence application, and allowed the Fitzwilliam Museum to purchase the Psalter. The welcome news, announced at a press conference on 24 January 2005, was broadcast on television and radio news throughout the evening. All sections of the media applauded the acquisition, with the Daily Telegraph announcing that the Psalter’s ‘prayers had been answered’ and the Daily Mail devoting several pages to the ‘Secrets of the Saucy Psalter’!

The Macclesfield Psalter featured prominently in an exhibition of illuminated manuscripts at the Fitzwilliam Museum, ‘The Cambridge Illuminations’, which opened on 26 July 2005. It then entered the museum’s permanent display of manuscripts within the new Medieval and Renaissance Gallery, and meant that everyone had the opportunity to see this wonderful work for themselves, free of charge.

'To loose them [the images], or to sell them - it would be like selling off an entire room in the National Gallery'.

Terry Jones, Historian and member of the comedy group 'Monty Python'

 

‘... one of the most remarkable English works of art to come before our Committee for many years – for sheer inventiveness, technical mastery and historical importance it can scarcely be rivalled’.

David Barrie, Director of the Art Fund

 

‘To peer into the jewelled intricacies of its images, is to peep through a spy hole at a medieval world view’.

Rachel Campbell-Johnson (The Times)

 

‘Completely unknown until now, it has the capacity to revise opinions about crucial developments in English manuscript illumination’.

Dr Scot McKendrick, Curator of Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts, the British Library

 

‘It is a rare and very special insight into our mediaeval cultural life, and if anything deserves to stay in the country of its origin, this is it.’

Michael Palin, Author and Broadcaster

 

‘The Psalter was created in East Anglia and it will lose half its meaning if it is torn from its native roots.’

Dr. David Starkey, Historian and Broadcaster