John Rylands Library library became one of the first to collect historical family records. Librarians at John Rylands before its merger include Edward Gordon Duff in 1899 and 1900 and Henry Guppy between 1899 and 1948 (joint Librarian with Duff until 1900). Duff was responsible for the original library catalogue, compiled between 1893 and 1899: "Catalogue of the Printed Books and Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library, Manchester"; ed. E. G. Duff. Manchester: J. E. Cornish, 1899. 3 vols. The cataloguing of the books was done by Alice Margaret Cooke, a graduate of the Victoria University. Dr Guppy began publication of the "Bulletin
Rylands Papyri the Rylands Papyrus iii.458) respectively; Papyrus 31, a fragment of a papyrus manuscript of the "Epistle to the Romans"; and Papyrus 32, a fragment of the "Epistle to Titus." Also held in the collection is Papyrus Rylands 463, a copy of the apocryphal "Gospel of Mary" in Greek, and John Rylands Papyrus 470, a prayer in Koine Greek to the Theotokos, written about 250 CE in brown ink, the earliest known copy of such a prayer. It was acquired by the Library in 1917. Rylands Papyri The Rylands Papyri are a collection of thousands of papyrus fragments and documents from