With help from a last-minute £150,000 ($236,000) donation by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the British Library paid £1 million ($1.6 million) to acquire the archive of the Royal Philharmonic Society November 18, alleviating fears the collection would be broken up and sold abroad.
The society said it could no longer afford to store and care for the 189-year-old collection, which includes an annotated copy of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony signed by the composer, the Guardian newspaper reported November 19.
Sale proceeds will be used to support composers and promote classical music education programs.
Posted November 25, 2002.