Library Lives

Library Lives: a constellation of books and objects from the Rylands plots the lifelong love affair between one particular book worm and the John Rylands Library and its collections in Manchester. Stella Halkyard, one of the library's erstwhile archivists, tells the life stories of some of this great library's previously unsung gems and provides new readings for a few of its acclaimed treasures. In a sequence of idiosyncratic and often playful short essays she celebrates the vibrant nature of these objects and their ability to tell stories that range across time and place, from the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, to John Donne's shroud, 18th century Chinese papermaking, Elizabeth Bishop's letters, plastic surgery in 16th century Italy, the lining of Walt Whitman's hat, and Delia Derbyshire's gasmask. Selected from Halkyard's 'Pictures from a Library' and 'Archive Corner' series published in PN Review since 2006, these essays have been brought together for the first time and put into productive dialogue with each other. Weaving the fabric of these texts into new combinations and patterns, Halkyard aims to encourage other readers to make this living Library, and its myriad collections, their own.