PLANNED AUCTION OF THE PAPERS OF SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

Motion Text

That this House objects to the planned sale and break-up of the papers of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by private auction at Christie's on 19th May; calls on the Minister of State for the Arts to intervene in this case and delay the sale until she can report back to the House regarding the dispute that all of these papers should have been lodged with the British Library rather than be auctioned; and in the disappointing event that the sale does go ahead, urges that public resources, such as Lottery funding, be used to save this extraordinary and invaluable collection for the public and academic scholarship.