Blogs
Find out more about what is happening in the John Rylands Research Institute and Library on our blogs.
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Brought to light – A stone grotesque and the Artec Spider II scanner
Tony Richards
11 December 2025
By Tony Richards and Samuel Simpson The Rylands Heritage Imaging Lab have recently taken delivery of an Artec Spider IIContinue Reading
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Conserving the Oldknow Book: History, Heritage and Treatment
lauracaradonna
2 December 2025
Amber Russell and Zoë Lanceley discuss the context and significance of the Oldknow Textile Sample Book, and describe its recent conservation.
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Incunabula Cataloguing Project. X: Blockbooks (Part 4) – The Mirabilia Romae and the Chiromantia
John Gandy
25 November 2025
Continuing our look at the blockbooks in the John Rylands Library: an early guidebook to Rome and a book on the art of palm-reading
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‘A plan for Manchester and Salford’ and studying Robert Owen in Manchester
Tino Oudesluijs
14 November 2025
Guest author José Álvarez talks about two lesser-explored stages of Robert Owen's life, drawing information from a beautiful map of Manchester and Salford
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Grace Frankland and the wonderful world of microbes
James Peters
7 November 2025
Archivist James Peters writes about Grace Frankland and her work as a scientist, focusing on her often neglected contribution as a science communicator
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The Pan African Conference (1900) and the Frankland Family Archive
James Peters
24 October 2025
Archivist James Peters writes about the first Pan African Conference and its ties to the Frankland family archive, held at the John Rylands Library.
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‘Take no distaste of my words, though they be a woman’s writing’
Elizabeth Gow
17 October 2025
Guest author Dr. Naomi Baker discusses Rose Thurgood’s conversion narrative (1636-7), one of the earliest known English conversion narratives, giving us rare insight into religious women’s lives and beliefs in the decades before the English Civil War
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Three Near-Identical Voltaire Letters
Elizabeth Gow
14 October 2025
Guest authors Dr Zoe Screti and Dr Gillian Pink investigate a curious coincidence surrounding three near-identical letters by French philosopher Voltaire
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Cotton, Botany & Empire: Tracing botanical sciences in the archives of the first industrial city
Kelly Jones
3 October 2025
Guest author Arianna Tozzi, Early Career Fellow at the John Rylands in 2024-2025, writes about the role of botanical innovations in developing the high-quality cottons used in textile manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution
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Sci-fi and satire: William Gifford on gaslight c. 1808
Kelly Jones
26 September 2025
Guest author Dr Roseanna Kettle, Early Career Fellow at the John Rylands in 2024-2025, writes about the satirical work by William Gifford on the topic of gaslight technology in Georgian London
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This blog is not being updated…
aiucentre
7 September 2021
but you can read more about our collections and activities on the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre and Education Trust website blog: https://www.racearchive.org.uk/blog/ You’ll still be able to read previous posts here, so feel free to explore our back catalogue!
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Artist in Residence: Rebecca Hurst
Kat Lowe
21 October 2020
The post Artist in Residence: Rebecca Hurst appeared first on John Rylands Research Institute.
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Student spotlight: Alexander Hurlow
Kat Lowe
9 September 2020
The post Student spotlight: Alexander Hurlow appeared first on John Rylands Research Institute.
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ECR Spotlight: Catherine Evans
Kat Lowe
7 August 2020
The post ECR Spotlight: Catherine Evans appeared first on John Rylands Research Institute.
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Geographical visions of Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868) in the John Rylands Library
Kat Lowe
6 July 2020
The post Geographical visions of Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868) in the John Rylands Library appeared first on John Rylands Research Institute.
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