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
L. Gordon Rylands L. Gordon Rylands Louis Gordon Rylands (July 10, 1862 - December 20, 1942), best known as L. Gordon Rylands was a British criminologist and writer. Rylands was born in Warrington, Lancashire. His father was the politician Peter Rylands. He was educated at Charterhouse and University College London (B.A., B.Sc). After completing his studies, he was secretary of the family business, Rylands Brothers wire manufacturers from 1884 to 1887, then from 1897 to 1898 was science master at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne. He worked as a private tutor from 1898 to 1924. At the time of his death