Basil Champneys preferred and taught, he later became one of the pioneers of the Queen Anne style, working on at least 100 buildings throughout England. John Rylands' widow, Enriqueta Rylands, had admired the library Champneys had designed for Mansfield College, Oxford and hired him to develop the design on a more lavish scale – The John Rylands Memorial Library in Deansgate, Manchester took nine years to build before opening on 1 January 1900, it is one of Champneys' finest designs. Champneys' Oxford buildings include the Church of St Peter-le-Bailey (1872–1874), which serves as the chapel for St Peter's College, New Old Hall
John Rylands Library known of the early history of this copy of the Gutenberg Bible before it was acquired by the 2nd Earl Spencer. The library houses papyrus fragments known as the Rylands Papyri and documents from North Africa. The most notable are the "St John Fragment", believed to be the oldest extant New Testament text, Rylands Library Papyrus P52, the earliest fragment of the text of the canonical Gospel of John; the earliest fragment of the Septuagint, Papyrus Rylands 458; and Papyrus Rylands 463, a manuscript fragment of the apocryphal Gospel of Mary. Minuscule 702, ε2010 (von Soden), is a Greek minuscule