On my travels to the North of England this week I visited the John Rylands Library in Manchester. Although I was brought up in Manchester I never visited the library and it has been on my list of places to visit for some time.
It was built in the 1890s by the wife of John Rylands and is said to be one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. It was opened to the public in 1900 with 70,000 books and 100 manuscripts. Today it contains 250,000 printed volumes and well over 1million manuscripts and archival items.
John Rylands was Manchester's first multi-millionnaire. He made his fortune from the cotton industry to become one of the most successful Victorian business men.
Walking through the library there is an overwhelming sense of history and academic life. The library became part of Manchester University in 1972.
It certainly has that wonderful old world look about it. Where are the people/students?
ReplyDeleteLooks like a beautiful Neo-Gothic building! I don't know if I could concentrate enough to study there though... I'd be too distracted by the gorgeous architectural elements! :o)
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