John Rylands Library

John Rylands Library
The neo-Gothic library building at Deansgate
founding	1899
Library type	scientific library
place	Manchester , England
ISIL	GB-UkMaJRU
Website	http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/specialcollections/

The John Rylands Library (John Rylands Library) is part of the John Rylands University Library in Manchester . The library was founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband John Rylands (1801–1888).

History of the library

After Enriqueta Rylands bought a place on Deansgate in the heart of Manchester city center, she commissioned the architect Basil Champneys to design it. Originally, Mrs. Rylands had designed the library primarily to house a theological collection. The architecture of the building, a fine example of Victorian Gothic , is therefore very reminiscent of a church . The core of the library was a collection of 40,000 books, including many rarities, collected by George John Spencer and acquired by Mrs. Rylands in 1892. On January 1, 1900, the library was opened to readers.

The building and its collection

In addition to the main library collection, a reading room with a gallery above, the building also has a Bible and map room on the first floor and conference and assembly rooms on the ground floor. Part of the ground floor was planned as a lending library, but was never opened as such. Another part is reserved for the caretaker. Matching white marble sculptures of John Rylands and Enriqueta Rylands were created by John Cassidy and are now in the library reading room.

Mailing address

150, Deansgate, Manchester M3 3EH, United Kingdom

See also

• Rylands Papyrus
  • Papyrus P52 - the earliest fragment of the canonical Gospel text of John
  • Papyrus Rylands 463 - Manuscript of the Gospel of Mary

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} JRUL special exhibition: Information for visitors (English) ( Memento of the original from July 18, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ JRUL: Guide through the special exhibition (English) . Retrieved April 29, 2007.
3. ^ Plan of John Rylands Library, Manchester . Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 29, 2007. 

Web links

• Website of the Library (English)
• Gernot Gabel: John Rylands Library 1900–2000 (PDF file; 213 kB)
• John Cassidy, Manchester Sculptor (English); Charlie Hulme and Lis Nicolson (Eds.)

bibliography

• Guppy, Henry (1924): The John Rylands Library (1899-1924): a record of its history with brief descriptions of the building and its contents . Manchester: University Press
• Guppy, Henry (1935): The John Rylands Library (1899-1935): a brief record of its history with descriptions of the building and its contents . Manchester: University Press
• Tyson, Moses (1941): The First Forty Years of the John Rylands Library . In: Bulletin of the John Rylands Library ; vol. XXV, pp. 46-66
• Farnie, DA (1989): Enriqueta Augustina Rylands (1843-1908), Founder of the John Rylands Library . In: Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester LXXI, 2 (summer 1989); Pp. 3-38
• Taylor, Frank (1989): The John Rylands Library, 1936-72 . In: Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester LXXI, 2 (summer 1989); Pp. 39-66
• McNiven, Peter (2000): The John Rylands Library, 1972-2000 . In: Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester LXXXII, 2-3 (summer & autumn 2000); Pp. 3-79
• McNiven, Peter (2000): An Illustrated Catalog of 'A Scholars' Paradise: a Centenary Exhibition of Notable Books and Manuscripts . In: Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester LXXXII, 2-3 (summer & autumn 2000); Pp. 85-254

Coordinates: 53 ° 28 ′ 49 "  N , 2 ° 14 ′ 55"  W.