The Macclesfield Psalter was discovered earlier this year

In June a temporary ban was put on the sale of the Macclesfield Psalter to the Paul Getty Museum of Los Angeles.

The National Heritage Memorial Fund has pledged more than �800,000 to the fund to help save it for the nation.

The book, found in a private collection in Oxfordshire, would be displayed at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum.

It was unearthed when a family dispute forced the Earl of Macclesfield to auction off the contents of a library at Shirburn Castle, his seat in Oxfordshire.

The 225-page illuminated 14th Century work, previously unknown to scholars, is considered one of the most important of its kind.

The manuscript is thought to have been made in Norfolk

It was bought in June by the Getty Museum of Los Angeles for �1,685,000 but Arts Minister Estelle Morris deferred its export to give British bidders a chance to raise the money to buy it.

The 170x108mm illuminated manuscript was produced in East Anglia, probably at Gorleston in Norfolk .

It contains 14 miniatures of religious scenes, chiefly from the life of King David.

The miniatures also depict the patron saints of Suffolk and Gorleston Church.

It is believed to come from the same artist as the Gorleston Psalter, which is housed in the British Museum.