200 Years of the Christian Brethren (Give or Take)
A Guest Post by Dr Tim Grass
Latest Posts
Brought to light – A stone grotesque and the Artec Spider II scanner
By Tony Richards and Samuel Simpson The Rylands Heritage Imaging Lab have recently taken delivery of an Artec Spider IIContinue Reading
Conserving the Oldknow Book: History, Heritage and Treatment
Amber Russell and Zoë Lanceley discuss the context and significance of the Oldknow Textile Sample Book, and describe its recent conservation.
Incunabula Cataloguing Project. X: Blockbooks (Part 4) – The Mirabilia Romae and the Chiromantia
Continuing our look at the blockbooks in the John Rylands Library: an early guidebook to Rome and a book on the art of palm-reading
‘A plan for Manchester and Salford’ and studying Robert Owen in Manchester
Guest author José Álvarez talks about two lesser-explored stages of Robert Owen’s life, drawing information from a beautiful map of Manchester and Salford
Grace Frankland and the wonderful world of microbes
Archivist James Peters writes about Grace Frankland and her work as a scientist, focusing on her often neglected contribution as a science communicator
The Pan African Conference (1900) and the Frankland Family Archive
Archivist James Peters writes about the first Pan African Conference and its ties to the Frankland family archive, held at the John Rylands Library.
‘Take no distaste of my words, though they be a woman’s writing’
Guest author Dr. Naomi Baker discusses Rose Thurgood’s conversion narrative (1636-7), one of the earliest known English conversion narratives, giving us rare insight into religious women’s lives and beliefs in the decades before the English Civil War
Three Near-Identical Voltaire Letters
Guest authors Dr Zoe Screti and Dr Gillian Pink investigate a curious coincidence surrounding three near-identical letters by French philosopher Voltaire
Cotton, Botany & Empire: Tracing botanical sciences in the archives of the first industrial city
Guest author Arianna Tozzi, Early Career Fellow at the John Rylands in 2024-2025, writes about the role of botanical innovations in developing the high-quality cottons used in textile manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution