Manchesterelegant british culture

If you have a passion for books and you’ve traveled to Manchester, you absolutely must spend a casual afternoon at the John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester. But beware: The library is no ordinary public collection of books. This singular and extraordinary assortment of literature is housed in a Victorian Gothic structure that looks more like a castle than your friendly-neighborhood library. After his death in 1888, successful industrialist John Rylands made his passion for education and books a public endeavor, investing a personal fortune of 2.75 million dollars into this neo-gothic wonder. The Special Collections amassed by the well-intentioned industrialist are truly impressive and include some of the most significant books and manuscripts ever produced including the oldest known piece of the New Testament (the St. John Fragment), illuminated medieval manuscripts and a 1476 William Caxton edition of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.