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Unfinished coloured painting: south side of Xieqiqu (Harmonious Wonder)

The John Rylands Research Institute

Promoting world-leading research in the humanities and social sciences using the astonishingly rich special collections of The University of Manchester Library.

Our collections and research projects

Joseph van Aken, 'Saying Grace' (c. 1720),

Faith in the Town

Lay Religion, Urbanisation and Industrialisation in England, 1740-1830
Heinrich Simon's hand-drawn map of the area around Malchow in Brandenburg (September 1828 diary extract).

Heinrich Simon: Prussian Double Agent

The only leader of the German 1848 Revolution as yet largely unresearched has a particular German-Mancunian linkage.
Hebrew painting

Jewish Collections

Exploring Jewish history and culture in our Hebrew collections.
Text from the front cover of 'Poetry World No. 2' mentioning work from Stanislaw Baranczak

In Their Own Words

Poetry in translation in the UK after 1962.
Flap anatomy of a pregnant figure from G. Spratt, Obstetric Tables, 1835

The visual culture of midwifery training in early nineteenth-century Manchester

This project seeks to explore how the pregnant body was thought about, pictured, represented and practiced upon in early nineteenth-century Manchester.
Medieval text decoration

Medieval and Early Modern
Collections

Investigating the wealth of Medieval and Early Modern materials.
Letter written by James Fortescue to James Caldwell

Lives and afterlives of letters

This research centres on the study of correspondence.
Carcanet cat logo

Modern Literary Archives

Outstanding resources for the study of recent and contemporary literature.
Egyptian papyrus

Papyrus Collections

Greek and Latin papyri offer new insights into the Ancient World.
Turkish painting of men on horseback

Turkish Collections

Ottoman manuscripts and printed books reveal links between East and West.
Drawing of a dissection

Medical Collections

Manuscripts by Manchester's leading doctors of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Detail of the front of a bible

Bible Collections

Bibles in more than 400 languages and dialects from almost five centuries.

Get involved

student investigating material

Funding opportunities

Our grants help researchers build projects related to the University’s Special Collections.
Old manuscript illustration of children working

Support us

Philanthropic support makes a real difference to what we can achieve.
Jeanette Winterson speaking at a seminar at The University of Manchester

Events

We host a number of research events throughout the year, including conferences and lectures.

About the John Rylands Research Institute

Spencer room at John Rylands Library

Our vision and agenda

Our vision is to be a world-leading centre for Special Collections based research across the Humanities and the Sciences.
Staff and students in the John Rylands Research Institute

Our people

More about the researchers and support staff who make up the Institute.
Envelope of letter to Moses Gaster

Our blog

Read about our current research activities and funding opportunities.

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Our blog

The JRRI blog

Social media

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Contact us

Get in touch