This sign, with its fabulous golden lettering, is on a wonderful
Victorian Gothic building in Manchester, founded by Enriqueta Rylands as a
tribute to her husband, John. The library that bears her husband’s name was a
labour of love for Enriqueta. Now part of Manchester University, it took 10
years to build and was opened to the public in 1900. Born in Cuba in 1843, Enriqueta
came to Manchester to be a companion to John Rylands’s wife, Martha. When Martha
died in 1875, Enriqueta and John married. Enriqueta began the work of building
and collecting for the people of Manchester after John’s death in 1888, sharing
her love of books, art and architecture. She died in 1908 in Torquay.
