John Rylands Library John Rylands Library The John Rylands Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband, John Rylands. The John Rylands Library and the library of the University of Manchester merged in July 1972 into the John Rylands University Library of Manchester; today it is part of The University of Manchester Library. Special collections built up by both libraries were progressively concentrated in the Deansgate building. The special collections, believed to be among the largest in the United Kingdom,
Rylands v Fletcher leading to the development of negligence and nuisance and the further development of trespass. At the time of "Rylands", the previous case relied upon was "Vaughan v Menlove", decided in the Court of Common Pleas in 1837. The case had almost identical facts to "Rylands", but strict liability was never even considered. The case is instead thought of as one of the best attempts of early 19th century English judges to build up the law of negligence. The outcome of "Rylands" meant that judges would again impose strict liability on defendants who accumulated dangerous things on their land without any