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The John Rylands Library

The John Rylands Library was founded by Mrs Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her late husband, John Rylands, one of the most successful businessmen of Victorian England and Manchester’s first multi-millionaire.

The striking gothic building which dominates the streetscape at the corner of Deansgate and Spinningfield was designed in 1889 by the architect Basil Champneys. The library took ten years to build and was first opened to public readers on 1 January 1900. The initial stock of the Library was 70,000 books and fewer than 100 manuscripts. As the Library's collections grew, the building has been extended four times; first in 1920 and again in 1962 and 1970. In 2003 major refurbishment began which included the construction of a new entrance wing. The library reopened in 2008.

The Library became part of The University of Manchester in 1972 and currently holds the Special Collections of The University of Manchester Library. Mrs Rylands' memorial to her husband is now part of the third largest academic library in the United Kingdom; the building houses over 250,000 printed volumes, and well over a million manuscripts and archival items.

The library was granted Grade I listed status in 1952 (Historic England List Entry Number: 1217800 LinkExternal link ).


LinkExternal link Wikipedia article about the library
LinkExternal link Wikipedia article about John Rylands.
by David Dixon

Created: Tue, 1 Jul 2014, Updated: Wed, 16 Jan 2019


62 images use this description. Preview sample shown below:

SJ8398 : The Columbian Printing Press at The John Rylands Library by David Dixon
SJ8398 : The Central Reading Room at John Rylands Library by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Spencer and Crawford Rooms, John Rylands Library by David Dixon
SJ8398 : The John Rylands Library by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Spencer and Crawford Rooms, John Rylands Library, Manchester by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Hieronymus by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Rylands Library by N Chadwick
SJ8398 : Old and new on Deansgate by Gerald England
SJ8398 : John Rylands Library, Historic Reading Room by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Stairwell, John Ryland Library Annexe by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Stained glass window, John Rylands Library by Eirian Evans
SJ8398 : John Rylands Library, The Secular Window by David Dixon
SJ8398 : The Rylands Gallery, John Rylands Library by David Dixon
SJ8398 : The John Rylands Library by David Dixon
SJ8398 : The Historic Reading Room, John Rylands Library by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Columbian Printing Press, John Rylands Library by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Little Bees in John Rylands Library by Gerald England
SJ8398 : John Rylands Library, Deansgate by N Chadwick
SJ8398 : Gallery Above The Reading Room, John Rylands Library by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Spinningfield by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Rylands Library, Stairs in New Entrance Wing by David Dixon
SJ8398 : John Rylands Library by N Chadwick
SJ8398 : Totem at John Rylands Library by David Dixon
SJ8398 : John Rylands Library, The Biblical Window by David Dixon
SJ8398 : Manchester, John Rylands Library by David Dixon

... and 37 more images.

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