We are delighted to be continuing our long-term partnership with the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust (NMCT). We have awarded a three-year grant (2023-25) of £120,000 to support their work in conserving manuscripts across the UK. Below we share some insights into our partnership with NMCT and why their work is so impactful.
NMCT is the only charity in the UK solely dedicated to the conservation of manuscripts. Manuscript and book conservation is distinct from specialisms such as painting conservation in that manuscript conservation is ‘practical’ rather than ‘aesthetic’. Manuscripts are important both as objects but also, crucially, for the information they contain. Access to their information is essential and without conservation that information can become significantly or completely inaccessible. NMCT grants help make nationally and internationally significant manuscripts and pieces of UK history freely accessible to the public.
NMCT is one of a range of specialist, expert organisations we work with within the heritage sector to improve the reach and impact of our preservation and conservation work. These strategic partners distribute our funds through their grant programmes and they also provide helpful advice and support to grantees. We were one of the original funders of NMCT when it was founded in 1990 and we are pleased to be a long-term supporter of the conservation of manuscript collections.
“Our vital partnership with the Pilgrim Trust enables nationally significant manuscripts to be conserved in archives and libraries across the UK. We are enormously grateful for this new 3-year grant award, which will ensure the preservation of a huge range of material from medieval to modern times and provide training and job opportunities to many conservators.”
– Professor David McKitterick, Chairman of NMCT
Our first three-year grant to NMCT was awarded in 2011 and between 2011-2021, our funding helped support a total of 69 projects. NMCT has also successfully used our grants to leverage over £650,000 from other funding sources greatly enhancing the value of our support. The range of manuscripts conserved since 2011 with our support is huge and includes:
- The Rylands Haggadah, 14th century (John Rylands Library)
- The NUM Archive (University of Warwick)
- Rare Cornish language manuscripts, 17/18th century (Kresen Kernow)
- The notebooks of Sir Charles Lyell, (1797-1878; University of Edinburgh)
- Fordhall Farm archive, the first organic dairy farm in the UK (Shropshire Archives)
- A medieval Processional, and a Commonplace Book from Castle Acre (Norfolk Museums) Parish schedules, 1860-1950 (Cardinal Tomas O’Fiaich Library & Archive, Armagh)
Close up of MS Hunter 242, Historia de Tlaxcala. L: Sewing of the secondary enbands. R: Repairing iron gall ink damage. Credit: University of Glasgow.
One standout project was the conservation of Historia de Tlaxcala (MS Hunter 242) from circa 1581-84 at the University of Glasgow. The Historia de Tlaxcala displays the history of the state of Tlaxcala in Mexico and is illustrated with 156 drawings. It was originally compiled by Diego Muñoz Carnargo and presented to King Philip II of Spain as a gift in 1584-85. The manuscript is a key document to understanding the 16th century Spanish conquest of Mexico and has been in significant demand for research, teaching and exhibitions for many years.
The NMCT grant of £14,825 helped conserve, digitise and stabilise the manuscript. The project also provided many training opportunities – including further training for the university’s book conservator from a specialist book and paper conservator and a chance for an early-career conservator to come onboard. Overall, this exciting project has finally enabled this in-demand manuscript to be available more widely. If you want to know more, you can check out the manuscript’s own Twitter feed here!
Over the past few years, archives and libraries across the UK have faced additional challenges due to Covid-19. There have been budget cuts to regional archive services and a reduction in in-house conservation capacity – with redundancies or senior staff being replaced with lower grade jobs. As a result, many have little or no budget with which to fund major conservation projects, so NMCT’s support has become even more important. Demand for the conservation of manuscripts continues to be very high.
University book conservator, Keira, works with specialist book and paper conservator and project mentor, John, on the MS Hunter 242, Historia de Tlaxcala. Credit: University of Glasgow.
NMCT encourages grantees to build a training element into their projects if possible. Many grants support internships for young conservators, training for volunteers or skills development for experienced conservators. NMCT grants also provide projects for many freelance conservators, who have faced challenging times since the Covid-19 pandemic. Increasing access to conservation expertise is a priority across all our work – for example professional and accredited conservators must be used in grants towards the care of collections and objects.
We’re so pleased to continue our support of NMCT for another three years. Together, we will help protect and encourage the conservation of manuscripts during this difficult period and importantly make so many of these manuscripts accessible – in some cases for the first time in many years.
Explore our other strategic partners. Over the next few months, we’ll be introducing more of our strategic partners and exploring the impact of our joint work.
Lead image: Calendar Wheel from the Historia de Tlaxcala, MS Hunter 242. Credit: University of Glasgow.