Campaign to raise £90k to return rare Bible launched

A rare 13th-century Bible could return to its ancestral home in Salisbury Cathedral, more than 700 years after it was written.

- HOLLY EVANS

It is one of only six manuscripts attributed to the Sarum Master, one of the greatest artists of the medieval period who illuminated pages of vellum from a workshop in Salisbury.

The English manuscript artist was known for his work in religious manuscripts, particularly the Sarum Missal – used for the liturgical practices of the cathedral, influencing English Christianity before the Reformation.

At the time, no other cities apart from London and Oxford supported this scale of book production, with Salisbury becoming renowned as an academic and cultural centre.

Now, the Friends of the Nations’ Libraries (FNL), which protects the UK’s written and printed history, is campaigning to raise £90,000 within 90 days to return the Bible to its ancestral home.