Blog

1. The conchologist’s daughters

   We’ve been looking at some of the library’s early books on conchology (the study of shells) and musing on the art of scientific illustration. In Robert Hooke’s words, a successful...

   7th May 2015 • Read more

2. W/Op Hickling, R.I.P.

   Although many of our books may be seen lining the shelves in the historic Library, thousands more are kept on the rolling stacks in our store rooms. These rooms are...

   28th April 2015 • Read more

3. St George’s Day – but who he?

   A mildly fraudulent title for this ep of the blog, in that solving the problems around George’s legend are a bit of a tall order for this modest organ. However,...

   23rd April 2015 • Read more

4. Cup of coffee anyone?

   Enjoying a mid-morning break recently reminded us that the library has some interesting items relating to the history of coffee and coffee houses. One of our earliest sources, published in...

   16th April 2015 • Read more

5. New Exhibition – Life’s Labours Lost?

   A new exhibition, here until 3 July, is open now. Life’s Labours Lost? Hard-working Families in the Age of Revolutions is a look at working life in the late eighteenth...

   16th April 2015 • Read more

6. Law and order

   Another new addition to our collections is a quarto manuscript notebook containing, amongst other items, the constitution and minutes of a Lancashire-based Prosecution Society. The society was founded by “Matthew...

   31st March 2015 • Read more

7. Animal in the Archive

   This past Friday (27 March) Chetham’s Library welcomed delegates from around the country for the ‘Animal in the Archive’ conference. Organized by Dr. Peter Yeandle (Lecturer in Modern British History...

   30th March 2015 • Read more

8. A Dicey moment for Tricky Dicky?

   Among Chetham’s Library’s Halliwell-Phillipps collection lurks another item of anti-Richard III black propaganda. If you’re a committed Ricardian, you may not consider it such an excellent song;  but William Dicey,...

   25th March 2015 • Read more

9. Eclipse fever, 18th century style

    Manchester eclipsed? Panic rising? A dastardly scheme by Liverpool? Surely not! Only partially eclipsed, and this was the view from the Library roof around 9 o’clock: But today’s eclipse put...

   20th March 2015 • Read more

10. Sail away

    These fantastic ink sketches come from a recently purchased volume which celebrates the Manchester Ship Canal. The identity of the artist is unknown, but he or she created 13 meticulous...

    17th March 2015 • Read more