John Rylands Library I listed status in 1994, is maintained by the University of Manchester and open for library readers and visitors. Enriqueta Rylands purchased a site on Deansgate for her memorial library in 1889 and commissioned a design from architect Basil Champneys. Rylands commissioned the Manchester academic Alice Cooke to index the vast library of the 2nd Earl Spencer which she had purchased and another collection of autographs. Mrs Rylands intended the library to be principally theological, and the building, which is a fine example of Victorian Gothic, has the appearance of a church, although the concept was of an Oxford college
Robert Rylands' Last Journey lasts all night, begins with the arrival in Oxford of Juan Noguera, a young teacher who is going to teach a Spanish literature course at the university. Juan stays at the home of his colleague and friend Alfred Cromer, who lives with his sister and her little daughter. Juan soon perceives that the recent return of Robert Rylands to the city, after an absence of ten years, disturbs the family. He tries to investigate the cause, but both Alfred and Jill refuse to reveal the secret between them. Meanwhile, Alfred falls ill and is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Rylands tries