Explorer Trail for schools and colleges Please return to recepon
1 Explorer Trail for schools and colleges Welcome to the library. This trail will help you learn about: why the library was built the architecture of the building the books in library s collecons.
2 Explorer Trail for schools and colleges Go to the atrium on the ground floor. Then take the stairs or the li! to Level 3. Go into the old part of the building and find the statue of John Rylands in Historic Reading Room.
3 Who was John Rylands? The library is named a!er John Rylands. This white marble statue shows you what he looked like. What does the statue tell you about John Rylands? Look at his clothes. Is he wearing modern clothes? John was born in 1801. He died in 1888 when he was 87 years old. He lived in most of his life in Victorian mes. John came from the town of St Helens in Lancashire but came to live in Manchester. In Victorian mes the city was called Co2onopolis as it was the centre of the co2on industry. John worked in the co2on industry. Can you guess what his job might have been?
4 John Rylands Look at this painng of John Rylands. What does the portrait tell you about him? Do you think he was a rich man or a poor man?
5 John Rylands This photograph shows John Rylands when he was an old man. Although his family were not wealthy by the end of his life John had become the richest man in Manchester. John was a very successful entrepreneur and built up a large business in the co2on industry. He owned 17 co2on mills and employed about 15,000 workers. John was a philanthropist. He was Chris an and thought it was important to give money to charity to help poor people. When John died he le! an estate worth about 2.5 million to his wife, Enriqueta. Mrs Rylands decided to use the money build the library as a memorial to John. It took over ten years to build the library which opened to the public on 1st January 1900.
6 Has the Reading Room changed since 1900? This photo was taken when the library opened. Very li2le has changed. Can you spot any differences? The statue of Mrs Rylands was not put into the Reading Room unl just before she died in 1908.
7 Why did Mrs Rylands have the library built? Enriqueta Rylands was born in Cuba in 1843. She married John in 1875. Like John she was a Chrisan and thought it was important to help people by giving to charity. She wanted a library that would help to train ministers and preachers but also hoped to improve the lives of poor people living in Manchester. Mrs Rylands wanted to have a fine building that would remind people of much older libraries in cathedrals and universies. She chose an architect who could design the library in the Gothic style. Mrs Rylands also wanted to commemorate important people from the past. She chose sixty people. Look at the twenty statues above the alcoves and the two stained glass windows, both of which show twenty more people.
8 Who s who? Statues The name of each person is wri2en in a Gothic style of le2ering at their feet. The statues are also all holding an object that tells you about their achievements. Can you find Newton and Shakespeare? What are they holding?
9 Here s a plan of the statues. They re arranged in pairs. Who s who? Statues Wycliff (translated the Bible into English) Tyndale John Rylands Gutenberg (printers) Caxton Newton (sciensts) Dalton Herodotus (historians) Gibbon Thales of Miletus (sciensts) Bacon Homer (storytellers) Shakespeare Milton (writers) Goethe Luther (preachers) Calvin Bunyan (writers and preachers) Wesley Enriqueta Rylands Coverdale (Bible scholars) Rainolds
10 What do the stained glass windows show? The window behind the statue of John Rylands represents Theology with figures from the Bible and Chrisan history. Top row from le): St. Anselm, St Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Moses, Isiah, St John, St Paul, Hooker, Thomas Cartwright, Grous Bo+om row from le): Erasmus, Beza, Melancthon, Origen, St John Chrysostom, Hieronymus, St Augusne, Butler, Edwards, Schleiermacher
11 What do the stained glass windows show? The window behind the statue of Mrs Rylands represents the Arts and shows famous writers, poets, musicians, and philosophers. Top row from le): Socrates, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Plato, Aristotle, Lucreus, Cicero, Aeschylus, Raphael, Beethoven Bo+om row from le): Johnson, Wordsworth, Carlyle, Descartes, Locke, Kant, Hegel, Dante, Michelangelo, Handel
12 What s in the alcoves? You can see some of the library s books in the cases in the alcoves but most are kept in special storerooms. Find the Turning the Pages screen to have a look at images of some of the library s books. You can also find out more about the library's collecons online. People who need to study the library s books can use a modern reading room on the fourth floor.
13 What s in the alcoves? Look carefully and you can see lots of detailed decoraons in the alcoves. Chair backs The carvings on the backs of the chairs represent the flower of the co2on plant. Why do you think this was chosen? Radiator grills Are all the radiator grills decorated with the same design? Electric Light Switches Even the light switches are decorave. (The switches are no longer connected to the lights.)
14 What s in the tower? Leave the Reading Room by the door near to the statue of Mrs Rylands. Keep a look out for carvings similar to these. The carvings and walls are made from sandstone. The stone is called shawk and came from a quarry in Cumbria. The blocks on the main wall of the Tower were arranged to display the different colours of the sandstone.
15 How are the stairs lit? As you go down the stairs look at how the space is lit. The lantern lets daylight in. The glass roundels in the windows are different colours. The light bulbs don t have shades. The library was the first public building in Manchester to have electric lights and the fikngs are designed to show off the light bulbs!
16 What s in the lobby? I m Theology. I m Science. This sphere is a symbol. It represents the world. What book do you think I m holding? I m Art and I m holding a chalice. These three statues are called: Theology Direcng the Labours of Science and Art. Why do you think Mrs Rylands wanted these statues to be the first thing you saw when you came into the library through the original doors behind you?
17 What s in the lobby? The doors were the original entrance. They are made of oak from Poland. The arches up above are called vaulng. This is a stand for umbrellas. The library has three prinng presses. What symbol shows you that this one is Brish? While you are in the lobby have a look at the historic toilets in the basement!
18 What s in the Rylands Gallery? Find the Rylands Galley on Level One. You can see just a few of the library s rare and special books on display here. The library has about 1.4 million items in its collecons. As well as books the library s collecons include archives, manuscripts, objects, photographs and painngs. Now go along either of the two corridors on Level One. You can see more books on display in the area outside the Spencer and Crawford Rooms.
19 Where do the library s books come from? The Spencer Room is named a!er the 2nd Earl Spencer (middle right). He was a wealthy and famous book collector who lived from 1758-1834. In 1892 Mrs Rylands started the library s book collecon when she bought 43,000 books from the Earl s grandson. She paid 250,000. The Spencer collecon includes many rare and valuable books such as a Gutenberg Bible (below) and a First Folio of Shakespeare s plays.
20 Where do the library s books come from? The Crawford Room next door to the Spencer Room is named a!er the 25th and 26th Earls of Crawford. In 1901 Mrs Rylands bought their collecon of manuscripts. The collecon included thousands of items in many languages from all over the world. This illustraon is called Rustam and the dragon and is in a famous Persian manuscript from 1518 tled Shahnama or Book of Kings
21 Thank you Mrs Rylands! By the me the library opened to the public in 1900, the building and its collecons had become well-known. Many people thought that Mrs Rylands library was an amazing achievement. In 1899 Mrs Rylands was awarded the freedom of the City of Manchester to thank her for the gi! of her library. She was the first woman ever to receive this honour.
22 Glossary archive a collecon of documents and files chalice a cup or goblet used in churches entrepreneur a business man or woman who starts and develops a business estate the property and belongings of a dead person First Folio the first of Shakespeare's plays published 1616 Gothic a style of architecture with lots of stone arches and columns, invented in the Middle Ages and popular during Victorian mes Gutenberg Bible The first book printed in Europe lantern a source of light, a lamp manuscript a handwri2en document
23 Glossary memorial a building or object made to help remember people who have died philanthropist a wealthy person who gives money to charity roundel a circle shawk a sandstone from Cumbria Theology the study of God and religious beliefs vaulng a curved ceiling with columns and aches Completed the trail? Got any quesons? Like to give us feedback? Email: jrl.educaon@manchester.ac.uk