These Boots....: December 2015

The John Rylands Library in Manchester, is a late Victorian neo-Gothic building which opened to the public in 1900. It was founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband, John Rylands, the English entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was the owner of the largest textile manufacturing concern in the United Kingdom, and Manchester's first multi-millionaire.

The library has been described as the Taj Mahal of the North-West; a palace built for love: a widow’s love for her late husband, a family’s love of religious literature and a city’s love of Gothic architecture.

Almost Cathedral like in appearance, the library houses an unrivalled collection of books. Amongst many others are Dickens’s novels in their original wrappers, a first edition of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, the second largest collection of works by the pioneering printer William Caxton and personal papers of theologian John Wesley, scientist John Dalton and novelist Elizabeth Gaskell.

The main reading room was built thirty feet above street level in order to reduce noise from the horse-drawn traffic outside on the busy thoroughfare of Deansgate. and on each side are alcoves for personal study. Lit by ornate bay windows, the alcoves were intended for private study.

At opposite ends of the reading room are two large stained glass windows featuring portraits of religious and secular figures, by designer Charles E. Kempe.


Statue of John Rylands

There are twenty or so sculptures representing a selection of well known intellectuals, writers and artists including Sir Isaac Newton and William Shakespeare.

The bookcases were equipped with complicated locks and seals to protect their contents.

The entrance hall is dominated by a group of statues entitled 'Theology directing the labours of Science and Art' by sculptor John Cassidy. These statues symbolized Mrs Rylands' belief in the superiority of Theology to Science and Art.