‘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
Tag: Research
‘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
Sci-fi and satire: William Gifford on gaslight c. 1808
Guest author Dr Roseanna Kettle, Early Career Fellow at the John Rylands in 2024-2025, writes about the satirical work by William Gifford on the topic of gaslight technology in Georgian London
Sir Edward Frankland: water, politics and profits
Archivist James Peters talks about Sir Edward Frankland’s career in the surprisingly politically charged subject of analysing water pollution levels
Introducing the Early European Print collection
John Gandy, Incunabula Cataloguer at the John Rylands Library, talks about the newly published early printing collection on Manchester Digital Collections
“One of the Busiest Men in Manchester”: William Edward Armytage Axon (1846-1913)
Guest author Lucy Evans explains how the Axon Papers collection at the John Rylands Library proved instrumental for writing her new book on the life of the prolific librarian, antiquary and journalist William Axon
Far from Being in the ‘Most Useless’ Place: Linking John Rylands Coptic Manuscripts with the Coptic Community
Dr Sarah Parkhouse and Professor Peter Oakes write about their pilot project exploring the treasure trove of Coptic manuscripts at the John Rylands Library.
Duchess, Queen, Witch – Joan of Navarre and Rylands Latin MS 22
Curator Anne Anderton writes about Joan of Navarre and her Psalter (Latin MS 22), which was recently reunited with its long-lost leaf