An invaluable library of trade union literature housing the original manuscript of Robert Tressell’s socialist masterpiece The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropist has been saved.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) Library Collections was under threat but has been safeguarded after the London Metropolitan University and the TUC agreed to split the cost.

The archive dates back to 1922 and documents worker struggles since the 19th century, featuring an array of pamphlets and literature charting the history of union activities, women workers, strikes, the Labour Party and the Communist Party.

It has been housed at the university’s premises in Holloway Road, Holloway, since 1996.