Blog

1. Anyone for chess?

   As the magic of the season begins to fall, we are reminded of the importance of enchantment, deception and curiosities in the making of holidays and special occasions. In this...

   8th December 2010 • Read more

2. Two gentlemen of Manchester

   These two well-dressed gents are taken from the Manchester Scrapbook, a remarkable compilation of sketches, prints, maps and topographical views put together in the early years of the nineteenth century...

   10th November 2010 • Read more

3. Desert Island Poems

   It’s been all go here at the Library recently, and on Friday night the beautiful Baronial Hall again provided the setting for an absorbing literary event. The poet Michael Schmidt...

   27th October 2010 • Read more

4. Manchester Fourteen Miles

   Margaret Penn’s classic title Manchester Fourteen Miles was published in this Guild Books edition in 1950. The cover illustration beautifully reflects the popular style of graphic art of the early...

   8th October 2010 • Read more

5. An evening’s entertainment

   Chetham’s Library had fun hosting a splendid concert given by Laetitia Sadier on Sunday. The event was part of the Abandon Normal Devices Festival and Laetitia was introduced by Phil...

   6th October 2010 • Read more

6. “I have thought of the days of old and the years that are past”

   This hand-tinted engraved self-portrait by Thomas Barritt (1743-1820) is to be found pasted into the front of one of his small scrapbooks, of which the Library holds several. Barritt, a...

   1st October 2010 • Read more

7. Laetitia Sadier

   We are pleased to be hosting an exclusive performance by legendary musician Laetitia Sadier at the Library on Sunday evening. Laetitia, a founder member of the post-rock outfit Stereolab, recently...

   29th September 2010 • Read more

8. A book of emblems

   More madness from the shelves at Chetham’s Library, this week in the form of these delightful engravings from Francis Quarle’s Emblems. The idea is to represent Christian truths using verse...

   24th September 2010 • Read more

9. We shall be pleased to accept the polecat

   We are still adding to our collection of material about Belle Vue Zoo and Pleasure Gardens. Until this remarkable and well-loved establishment closed in the 1970s, it was Manchester’s principal...

   10th September 2010 • Read more

10. Wife in a bag

    This wonderfully mad illustration is taken from The Economy of Beauty, ‘a series of fables addressed to the ladies’, which is one of the books we are currently minding for...

    1st September 2010 • Read more