One hundred years ago
IT HAS become known that the pur- chaser of the Althorp Library is Mrs Rylands, the widow of the millionaire of that name who died in 1889, and that she intends to present it to Manchester. During the last two years Mrs Rylands has spent some £20,000 in buying books with a view to founding a great library, and these added to the Althorp collec- tion will make a magnificent gift. We are glad that Manchester rather than London is to get Lord Spencer's books, for we dislike the centralisation of all the great treasures in the Capital. The more great pictures and great libraries there are in the provincial towns the better. A house is spoilt by having all the books or all the pictures in one room, and so is a country. It is curious to think that the sale of Lord Spencer's books would have made him a fairly rich man even had he been penniless. He will have £10,000 a year more with his shelves empty than he had when they were full. In the case of a great propri- etor, this extra £10,000 a year, not from farms, may mean the difference between riches and an uneasy position.
The Spectator 13 August 1892
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