In January, the Bodleian Libraries, the main research library at the University of Oxford, said it needed to raise £1m by the end of February to meet the £2.2m purchase price required to take the collection out of private hands.

The Libraries had already won £1.2m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

At the time, campaigners said that acquisition by the university would give scholars and the public access to Fox Talbot’s historic personal archive.

The collection is the ‘only significant Talbot collection remaining in private hands,’ according to the university.

It is currently owned by the family of the British photography inventor, but is now with a dealer in New York who is selling it on their behalf.

On 28 February, project organisers made an 11th-hour plea for cash on Twitter – the day they were given as the deadline to raise the funds.

At the time of writing, it was unclear whether Bodleian Libraries has been granted an extension to the deadline.

The Libraries today declined to comment when first approached by Amateur Photographer, saying only that it would be making a statement later in March.

However, a spokesperson later said that Bodleian Libraries would seek to issue a statement shortly.