John Rylands Library … Stanley Baxter: Happy 99th Birthday! … Pride on the Range … Birthdays

The John Rylands Library

The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband, John Rylands.

Out in the City members visited the Library as it is celebrating its 125th anniversary. The Library is ranked second in the UK for its special collections.

Gutenberg Bible

We attribute the invention of printing with movable type in Europe to Johann Gutenberg in the early 1450s. This technological revolution was based on pieces of metal type, produced from moulds, which could be used repeatedly to print multiple texts. This copy was purchased by Earl Spencer in 1790. It was previously owned by a monastery in Colmar, north-eastern France.

Gifts for the Queen

Some of the archival documents are associated with major figures in history, including royalty. Elizabeth I signed her name on this list of gifts she received and gave at New Year 1559. The long parchment roll names over one thousand people, about a third are women. The first in the list was the Duchess of Suffolk. She gave the Queen an embroidered cushion and a velvet-bound book with silver clasps.

The First Folio

One of the most famous books ever produced. Shakespeare’s friends John Heminge and Henry Condell immortalised his dramatic output in a single luxury volume., seven years after he died. The title page has one of the very few portraits of Shakespeare that is considered authentic. It was approved by those who knew him well.

Early fragment of John’s Gospel

This small piece of papyrus contains incomplete lines from the Gospel of John. Written in Greek, the original language of the Gospel, it is important evidence of early Christianity in Egypt. The scholar Bernard P Grenfell sold the fragment to the Rylands in 1920 in a batch of unidentified papyri. Because he bought it from an Egyptian dealer, we don’t know where the fragment was found.

Illuminated Hebrew Bible This Jewish Bible from late medieval Spain was an early manuscript purchase. Rylands bought it in June 1892. It is written on animal skin and contains beautiful French and Italian style decorations. The first word of each Bible book is highlighted in gold. The manuscript had travelled to Greece and Amsterdam before coming to Manchester.

However, the current exhibition celebrates LGBTQ pop and its wider influence.

The Secret Public: LGBTQ Pop 1955 – 1985

The landmark exhibition examines the profound influence of LGBTQ performers, artists and activists on mainstream pop culture. Based on Jon Savage’s book The Secret Public – How LGBTQ Performers Shaped Popular Culture 1955 – 1979 this new exhibition presents key pieces from the extensive archive collected by the author and University of Manchester Professor of Popular Culture, which is now part of the Library’s British Pop Archive.

The exhibition takes a thematic and chronological journey through posters, magazines, books, promotional photographs and record sleeves, tracing the extraordinary contribution LGBTQ performers have made throughout those years, enhanced by audio and video providing an evocative soundtrack to this story.

Encounter pop and film stars from the 1950s and 60s like Little Richard and James Dean and learn about the queer managers and record producers behind the stars, such as Larry Parnes, Joe Meek and Brian Epstein.

Female artists and the lesbian story is explored through materials on Norma Tanega, Lesley Gore and Dusty Springfield and in magazines such as The Ladder.

A key moment in the exhibition is David Bowie’s frank 1972 admission that he was gay. Exhibition items then take visitors from the late 1970’s disco scene of Sylvester and Saturday Night Fever into the1980s when gay pop stars like Boy George and Marilyn were pushing creative aesthetic norms.

LGBTQ pop was solidly positioned in the music press and the charts with an established large fan base, both straight and queer. For many LGBTQ people during these decades, ‘pop’ was one of the few places where they might see their lives represented and reflected or even envisage an idea of how their world could be in a more tolerant, accepting future.

For more photos see here.

Stanley Baxter: Happy 99^th Birthday!

Stanley Livingstone Baxter is a retired Scottish actor, comedian, impressionist and author. Baxter began his career as a child actor on BBC Scotland and later became known for his British television comedy shows The Stanley Baxter Show, The Stanley Baxter Picture Show, The Stanley Baxter Series and Mr Majeika.

Baxter was brought up in the West End of Glasgow, in a tenement. He lived there from the age of five until he married actress Moira Robertson at 26 years of age. He later lived in Highgate, North London. He was married for 46 years until his wife’s death of an overdose in 1997. He was overseas at the time.

In August 2020 at the age of 94, Baxter came out as gay, following the release of his authorised biography. His biography described how Baxter had told Moira that he was gay before they married, with Baxter having sought to end their relationship as a result, but that she had threatened suicide, causing him to relent. Moira accepted that he was gay and allowed him to bring men home for sex, despite homosexual acts being illegal until the passing of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, 16 years after their marriage. Five years before then, Baxter had been arrested for cottaging and contemplated suicide for fear of scandal causing an end to his career. The soliciting charges were subsequently dropped.

Baxter sought to maintain the secrecy around his sexual orientation, with his biography describing how he had taken legal action over the posthumous publication of Kenneth Williams’ diaries after Williams, a long-time friend, died in 1988. In his biography, Baxter describes his discomfort with his homosexuality: “Anybody would be insane to choose to live such a very difficult life. There are many gay people these days who are fairly comfortable with their sexuality, fairly happy with who they are. I’m not. I never wanted to be gay. I still don’t.”

I remember watching the “Stanley Baxter Show” as a teenager and found his comedy specials hilarious. Let’s hope he enjoys his 99^th birthday on 24 May 2025.

Pride on The Range

It’s Whalley Range Pride this weekend. See the itinerary below.

Come and show off your dazzling dogs at the Divine Dog Show!

Meet Mark at the dog show stand for sign up, treats, poo-bags and water dishes. The show starts at 3.10 with a doggy runway and judging will be around 3.40!

There arer 3 categories including: