Chetham's Treasures Digitised
We are delighted to announce that a number of our eighteenth century periodicals, including copies of the Harrops Manchester Mercury from 1752-1775, have recently been digitised and made available on the Eighteenth Century Journals Portal to Newspapers and Periodicals c.1685-1815. A free trial of this excellent resource is available to libraries and academic institutions on the Adam Matthew website.
Chetham's is also pleased to have contributed six Middle English manuscripts to be digitised as part of the Rylands Medieval Collection. Click on the links below to go to the high resolution images.
MS 6680 (A.4.99) Astrologica, etc (late C14th)
MS 6709 (A.4.104) Lydgate, Life of Our Lady (late C15th)
MS 6711 (A.4.107) Mandeville's travels (early C15th)
MS 6723 (A.2.160) Wycliffite New Testament (early C15th)
MS 8009 (A.6.31) Ipomadon, etc. (mid C15th)
MS 11379 (A.6.90) Polychronicon in Trevisa's ME trans. (turn of C14th/15th)
MS 27911 (A.2.166) Life of Christ (early C15th)
MS 27938 (A.3.127) Medical recipes (turn of C15th/16th)
Our current exhibition: 'Reasons to Be Cheerful'
Like most libraries and museums, Chetham's is able to display only a small fraction of its holdings. For many years the Library's collecting policy has been to acquire material on the history of the north west of England, but this is interpreted in a very generous way. We seek to acquire by purchase and by gift material that is printed or created in the region and material which helps us interpret what we already have - a remarkable collection of rare books and manuscripts that has been built up over three hundred and fifty years.
This exhibition is intended to show the breadth of the material that has been acquired in recent years. It ranges from early printed books, through original paintings, prints and engravings to local novels, penny dreadfuls, children's books and jobbing printing. It includes beer mats, cartoons, handkerchiefs and postcards as well as books made by some of the greatest writers and book artists of all time.
As the forthcoming elections loom, one case includes a variety of local political ephemera. The Edwardian anti-Tory handbill, a detail of which is pictured above, is just one of a display that includes Victorian satirical prints, leaflets from the 1950s and 60s and material from recent Manchester Party conferences.
This exhibition provides a snapshot of the diverse and disparate body of material that has been brought together, preserved, and made available for future use at Chetham's Library.
The exhibition can be seen in the Priest's Wing of the Library during normal opening hours.
Photography at Chetham's
The Library has been the location for several photoshoots in the past two months. Photographer Kellianne Chandler has shared a few of her results with us. Click on the detail of her photograph above to see the rest of the Geek Chic photos she shared with us. See more of Kellianne's work on her website.






![[anti-tory political handbill]](images/toryparty.jpg)
