Finding faith in the urban archive
Did urbanisation and industrialisation cause religious faith to decline in eighteenth-century England? Correspondence from the Nicholson family of Manchester merchants suggests otherwise.
Category: Long read
Diversifying special collections: reflecting on our decolonisation research project so far (part 2)
The second of two posts written by University of Manchester MA students Hannah Banks and Matthew Bridson, who have been working with the John Rylands Research Institute and Library on the project ‘Redressing colonial perspectives in Echoes of Service Archives’.
Guardian Exhibition: Anniversaries: The Guardian newspaper through time and place
This anniversary blog, written by the Guardian Exhibition Curator Janette Martin, highlights objects from our bicentenary exhibition and from theContinue Reading
Marking the bicentenary of Hester Lynch Piozzi (1741–1821)
2nd May 2021 is the bicentenary of the death of Hester Lynch Piozzi (née Salusbury), writer and focal point of a brilliant literary circle. This post marks the anniversary by discussing a fine letter from Hester to Penelope Pennington from 1820, which the Rylands purchased late last year.
Dante in Manchester: Celebrating the ‘anno dantesco’
2021 is the ‘anno dantesco’, commemorating the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. To mark the start of our celebrations here in Manchester, Dr Guyda Armstrong of the Italian Department writes about the new collection of manuscripts and early printed editions from the Rylands which we’ve made available in Manchester Digital Collections.
A Passover Haggadah painted by an Englishman?
Follow us on the trail of a Christian English painter, and discover some unusual iconographical elements in an eighteenth-century Passover Haggadah
Rylands Persian MS 913: Oriental Studies between Leiden and Constantinople
Manuscript collection containing documents relating to Ottoman-Dutch relations including correspondence between Leiden orientalist Jacobus Golius and Nicolas of Aleppo.
The Singing Detective: Dating broadside ballads during lockdown (Part 2)
This is the second of two blogs by Special Collections Librarian, Julie Ramwell, providing an insight into the difficulties of dating 19th century broadside ballads.
The Singing Detective: Dating broadside ballads during lockdown (Part 1)
In the first of two blogs, Special Collections Librarian, Julie Ramwell, provides an insight into the difficulties of dating 19th century broadside ballads.
Photographing the Simon Papers
My first project at the JRRIL, photographing a complex bound archive, and detailing the specific techniques and equipment needed for this particular work.