Memorandum submitted by the Working Group
on UK Literary Heritage
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The Working Group on UK Literary Heritage
was established in March 2005 to develop and implement a national
strategy for the acquisition of modern literary manuscripts by
UK institutions.
2. Its current activities are focussed on
three main areas of concern, each of which is dealt with separately
in the following text:
3. The Working Group asks the Committee
to consider in particular the proposals for modest changes to
taxation, detailed below, which have been submitted to HM Treasury.
INTRODUCTION
4. Under the chairmanship of Lord Smith
of Finsbury, its members include representatives of all stakeholders:
authors, publishers, scholars, collecting institutions, funders
and dealers,[44]
all of whom recognise that there are distinct challenges surrounding
the retention in the UK of the archives and manuscripts of modern
and contemporary authors.
5. Caring for collections begins with their
acquisition. In order to preserve the nation's modern literary
heritage, the archives of pre-eminent authors must be acquired
by institutions able to offer expertise and experience in providing
care, security and access. It is crucial that the issues at the
forefront of the concerns of the Working Group are properly addressed
now, before the manuscripts of today's writers are dispersed.
6. It must be emphasised that collecting
institutions acquire the nation's cultural and intellectual heritage
for future generations. Literary archives range in content from
drafts of unpublished and published works, usually undergoing
significant changes, to business and financial papers, diaries
and personal correspondence. Nowadays, with a new generation of
authors making greater use of email and word processing, they
include increasing components of electronic correspondence. Such
a broad range of material attracts interest throughout society.
Widely used in teaching and academic research to explore the creative
process,[45]
the content of archives reaches new audiences through exhibitions,
popular biographies, press coverage, film and documentaries. It
adds a new dimension that complements and enhances the published
works through its accessibility. Archives also act as a stimulus
to further creativity in the written and visual arts, film and
music.
7. Metropolitan and regional collections
throughout the UK rightly enjoy an international reputation attracting
tourists and researchers from around the world, and many regional
collections have acquired the papers of writers with a local connection
but international reputation.[46]
If the archives of significant British authors, such as AS Byatt,
Ian McEwan and Zadie Smith, are not collected within the UK, the
impact on the cultural and intellectual wealth of the country
will be far reaching. There is no substitute for first-hand access
to such rich and diverse primary sources. Although it was recognised
as far back as the 1950s that public collections were not acquiring
the archives of modern authors, and action taken,[47]
over the past few decades, the nation continues to see the papers
of its pre-eminent writers being sold to institutions overseas,
primarily in the United States. These include the archives, in
whole or in part, of Julian Barnes, David Hare, John Fowles, Carol
Ann Duffy, Seamus Heaney, Malcolm Bradbury, Fay Weldon and Alan
Sillitoe.[48]
8. Once lost to the UK, archives never return
as they are not brought onto the market again, while copyright
restrictions on modern works prevent the use of methods such as
digitisation, which might provide remote access. Because some
writers depend on the income from the sale of the working papers
to fund their later writing, there are many instances of papers
being sold in small batches over a period of time. If these are
dispersed throughout collections at home and abroad, researchers
of the future face the challenge of having to fund international
travel in order to study the corpus.
9. Realising that there are several issues
to tackle, the Working Group proposes action in a number of areas,
and is active in bringing matters to the attention of those who
can exert influence or make a real difference, including authors.
FUNDING
10. Modern literary archives, although attracting
relatively modest sums compared to the cost of historical manuscripts
or the dramatic prices of works of visual art,[49]
still have to compete with the many other demands on an institution's
budget, whether ring-fenced for acquisitions or to be spread more
broadly across a range of functions and services.
11. The current typical total annual expenditure
by public institutions within the UK on the literary archives
of living writers resident in the UK for tax purposes can be estimated
in the region of £500,000-£1,000,000. Usually, their
purchase necessitates recourse to an additional source of funding,
such as the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) or the National Heritage
Memorial Fund (NHMF).[50]
The Working Group recognises the significant contribution made
by these and other funding bodies, for example, the Friends of
the National Libraries, but is concerned about the enormous pressure
placed on these resources.
12. We welcome the recent decision of the
Department to maintain the HLF's percentage of lottery funds at
the current level until 2019 and urge that this is at least maintained
thereafter. Likewise, the NHMF has seen a reduction in real terms
of its grant-in-aid funding since it was established in the 1980s,
when it received £14 million a year, and, while the decision
to double its current award to £10 million annually from
2007-08 is welcomed, we would like reassurance that this level
of funding would at least continue beyond 2007-08.
13. Beyond the funds available, more could
be done to ensure that collecting institutions are in a strong
position to compete in the international market. The process of
bidding for HLF funds can be lengthy and bureaucratic, while decisions
to purchase often have to be made quickly to secure the material.
We appreciate that due diligence must be exercised in the expenditure
of public money but any steps which could be taken to increase
the ability of public institutions to act decisively and in time
would be welcome.
GUIDANCE FOR
AUTHORS
14. It is perhaps partly this complex process
to access funds, and partly the knowledge that there is intense
competition for a relatively small pot of money, that helps promote
the perception amongst authors that their interests would be better
served by US institutions. Some authors may also be deterred by
the potentially public process that can surround HLF funding.
This is despite anecdotal evidence that authors would prefer their
archives to be held within the UK.[51]
15. Collecting institutions and dealers
are able to provide guidance for authors wishing to sell their
archives, but obviously this is only if approached. The Working
Group has actively involved in its work the Royal Society of Literature,
through its President, Michael Holroyd, and the Society of Authors
through its Chairman, Mark le Fanu. While the Society of Authors
publishes guidance for authors, formal advice on all current incentives
disseminated by a central, independent body such as the Museums,
Libraries and Archives Council, which already has an advisory
role, would be of great benefit.
16. UK collecting bodies recognise that
their US counterparts have been energetic in approaching and developing
relationships with authors and are becoming more pro-active in
their dealings. In the matter of making it clear to authors that
there is strong interest in acquiring their papers, UK institutions
realise the importance of coherent collection development policies
and of gathering data on national holdings. The location register,[52]
largely a tool for researchers, is a searchable database of 20th
century English literary manuscripts and archives, while Access
to Archives provides searchable access to catalogues in public
institutions in England and Wales of historic and current material.[53]
The Group for Literary Archives and Manuscripts (GLAM)[54]
is carrying out a comprehensive survey into the collecting policies
and holdings of institutions throughout Britain and Ireland. As
well as providing useful statistics on the level and methods of
acquisition, and helping to identify significant gaps and collecting
patterns, GLAM hopes that the findings will enable it to investigate
the feasibility of evolving a collecting strategy for Britain
and Ireland as a whole. Collaborative collection development has
been carried on informally and successfully, with regional institutions
collecting archives particularly relevant to their area and audiences,
although often with a national significance and funded by national
resources. The archives world is therefore making good progress
in identifying and documenting its collections and policies, which
will be helpful for authors.
17. Working together in these ways, UK institutions
are actively addressing the issues, but there are still some lessons
to be learnt from the US institutions which have been so successful
over the past few decades in acquiring the UK's literary heritage.
18. An international conference, Manuscripts
Matter, organised through the Working Group by the British Library
and the Institute of English Studies, University of London, is
taking place on 19-20 October 2006. With speakers from two of
the US libraries with important collections of UK manuscripts,
as well as leading authors, collecting institutions, dealers and
scholars in Britain and Ireland, it will provide a forum for discussion
of the key issues and sharing of information and advice. A programme
is attached at appendix B.
19. However, while the Working Group encourages
these parallel positive activities by UK public collections and
authors, we are aware that action could be taken by HM Treasury
to exert further influence.
TAX INCENTIVES
20. Existing tax incentives to aid the public
acquisition of pre-eminent works can only be drawn on by the owner's
estate, ie after the death of the writer.
21. In November 2005, the Working Group
proposed to HM Treasury two modest changes to the existing schemes
which would benefit collecting institutions and living authors:
— To extend the douceur arrangement
with regard to inheritance and capital gains tax to income tax
for living authors selling their papers to a designated UK public
institution by private treaty.
— To extend the Acceptance in Lieu
of tax scheme (AIL) to living writers.
22. Letters of support were sent direct
to HM Treasury from a number of individuals, including Lord Bragg,
Alan Hollinghurst, Peter Porter, Lord Robert Skidelsky and Alasdair
Gray. No formal response has been received by the Working Group
to date, although in official responses which we have seen to
letters of support, HM Treasury has indicated that they cannot
justify measures favouring literary archives and, therefore, authors,
above other artists and owners of cultural works.
23. However, the matter of UK literary heritage
has also been raised twice in the House of Lords, first on 13
December 2005, during which Lord Evans of Temple Guiting stated
that:
"apparently the Treasury needs convincing
that this is an important area, as many noble Lords feel, and
further discussions will take place with the DCMS, the Treasury
and other interested parties".[55]
and on 24 July 2006[56],
showing that there is support from many quarters for these small
changes to existing taxation schemes.
24. The extension of the douceur would encourage
authors, who currently pay income tax on any proceeds from the
sale of their archives, to choose to sell to designated public
institutions in the UK, as income tax would be waived and split
between the author and the institution. While the douceur currently
is split 25% to the vendor and 75% to the buyer, we would further
propose splitting it, in such cases, 50/50. Although of minor
financial cost to HM Treasury, the long term significance to UK
collections, and therefore the nation's cultural and intellectual
environment, would be great.
25. Acceptance in Lieu is widely employed
as a means of securing archives after the death of the writer.
We propose that the agreement under this excellent scheme is simply
brought forward. This would enable authors to arrange the sale
of their papers before their death, achieving comfort from this
and absolving their families of this responsibility, while allowing
institutions to be guaranteed ownership of pre-eminent archives
in advance. No change to the current procedures or cost is proposed.
The acceptance process would remain the same, so HM Treasury would
be assured that due diligence was employed, and no funds would
be exchanged until after the writer's death. This proposal would
be immensely important in securing those collections which are
on loan to public institutions[57].
26. The major difference between these modest
proposals and existing tax incentives is that they alone benefit
living writers. While the Working Group applauds efforts to encourage
greater take-up of current schemes, we would emphasise that none
can be applied to the sale of archives of living authors, who
may be sufficiently persuaded by these measures to sell within
the UK.
27. As part of its submission, the Working
Group investigated tax incentives in other countries, including
the USA and Republic of Ireland. Although none are directly comparable,
there is evidence that such schemes do increase cultural acquisitions.
We are aware of HM Treasury's concerns about the potential abuse
of income tax deductions and would point out that the two proposals
above involve designated public institutions and, in the case
of AIL, would employ the stringent criteria currently imposed
by the AIL Panel. Therefore, they would not provide opportunities
for tax avoidance.
28. We are happy to provide a copy of the
submission if this is required.
29. Although the Working Group's emphasis
is on literary manuscripts, our proposals and initiatives have
a potentially broader scope which would include the archives of
historians, scientists, economists and screen writers[58].
The great cultural, intellectual and economic contribution made
by the creative industries in the UK would be supported directly
and indirectly by improving the ability of UK collections to acquire
the archives of modern and contemporary writers.
October 2006
44 Appendix A gives a list of current members. Back
45
Not only in tertiary education: Seven Stories in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
uses the archives of children's writers to introduce primary school
children to story-telling and writing, and many institutions have
close links to local primary and secondary schools with whom they
organise workshop events based on archiving. Back
46
For example, the University of Hull holds the letters of Philip
Larkin and the University of Nottingham the papers of DH Lawrence. Back
47
Following campaigning by Philip Larkin, the National Manuscripts
Collection of Contemporary Poets was established in 1963. Although
it made significant acquisitions of individual manuscripts (already
by 1967 it represented 57 writers), it was wound up in 1979. Back
48
Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, holds the
archives of three of the authors on the 2005 Man Booker long list:
Julian Barnes, Sebastian Barry and Dan Jacobson and, among those
of numerous other living writers, the archives of Tom Stoppard,
David Hare, Penelope Lively, Doris Lessing and the recently deceased
John Fowles and Penelope Fitzgerald. Emory University, Atlanta,
has acquired the papers, either in whole or significant part,
of many UK writers during their lifetimes, including Ted Hughes
and Carol Ann Duffy and Northern Irish poets Seamus Heaney, Michael
Longley and Frank Ormsby. The Lilly Library, University of Indiana
has acquired the papers of Malcolm Bradbury, Patrick O'Brian,
Fay Weldon and Alan Sillitoe, and the Beinecke Library, Yale University
holds papers of Peter Ackroyd, Caryl Phillips, Jeremy Reed, Donald
Davie and James Lees-Milne. Back
49
Not more than £1,000,000, averaging £50,000 and typically
ranging in price from £5,000 to £100,000. Back
50
For example, the Universities of Hull and Nottingham received
HLF funding for their acquisition of the papers of Larkin and
Lawrence, respectively, the National Library of Scotland has been
assisted by the HLF in the purchase of the archive of poet and
critic Hugh MacDiarmid, and the British Library in the acquisition
of the Olivier archive. Back
51
Arnold Wesker sold his comprehensive archive to the Ransom Center,
University of Texas, in 2000, for £100,000, having been offered
£60,000 by the British Library. Wesker says "I would
much sooner have had my work here in London but the gap was too
large it is a shame." Back
52
http://www.rdg.ac.uk/library/colls/projects/locreg.html. Back
53
http://www.a2a.org.uk/about/index.asp. Back
54
GLAM was formed in 2005 and includes over 70 members from university,
national, local and public libraries and archives. For information
on GLAM and its aims go http://archives.li.man.ac.uk/glam/index.html;
and survey http://archives.li.man.ac.uk/glam/glam5.html. Back
55
Mentioned in a debate on Funding of Works of Art: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldhansrd/pdvn/lds05/text/51213-01.htm#51213-01-star0. Back
56
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldhansrd/pdvn/lds06/text/60724-1052.htm#06072410000015. Back
57
For example, Seven Stories holds many archives and illustrations
on loan from the authors. Back
58
In 2002, the HLF was able to support the Wellcome Trust in their
timely acquisition of the archive of a living British scientist,
Professor Francis Crick, who died in 2004. The HLF's grant of
half the purchase price of $2.4 million was crucial in the face
of competition from US institutions. For further information about
this acquisition please see http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/en/genome/geneticsandsociety/hg13f020.html. Back
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