Manchester Engels while living and working in Manchester. Manchester was the meeting place of Engels and Karl Marx. The two began writing "The Communist Manifesto" in Chetham's Library. The library was founded in 1653 and lays claim to being the oldest public library in the English-speaking world. Elsewhere in the city, the John Rylands Library holds an extensive collection of early printing. The Rylands Library Papyrus P52, believed to be the earliest extant New Testament text, is on permanent display in the library. Charles Dickens is reputed to have set his novel "Hard Times" in the city, and while it is
Newcastle City Library on the corner of John Dobson Street and New Bridge Street West. The neighbouring Laing Art Gallery had originally been built as an extension of the old Victorian library and was left somewhat out of context following the demolition of the older building, with a blank brick wall facing towards the city centre. The 1960s building rapidly became unfit for the purpose of a modern public library with its name changing in the late 1990s from Central Library to City Library. Additionally, the 1960s design of the library became regarded as exceedingly ugly, with local TV presenter and author John