[The following essay discusses Enriqueta Rylands and her husband, John Rylands.]

John Rylands and his wife are included in this dictionary of book collectors entirely because Enriqueta Rylands established the John Rylands Library in Manchester in 1900 as a memorial to her husband. As book collectors in their own right they would not merit inclusion. An examination of the foundation and early years of the John Rylands Library nevertheless provides considerable insight into John Rylands's book collecting and his wife's personal taste.

John Rylands was born on 7 February 1801 at Parr, close to St. Helens, a small industrial town situated in the county of Lancashire in northwest England. The fourth of five children, he received his education at the local grammar school, where he appears to have been both a good sportsman and a good scholar. By the time he was eighteen his commercial ability was already evident. In that...