The haunting drone of an air conditioning unit in an ancient corridor in the impressive John Rylands library in Manchester. The unit is designed to dry out the air to protect the ancient and valuable books, and the building itself, but adds a sinister edge to such a dark, almost Gothic space.
The library was commissioned in 1890 by his wife Enriqueta Rylands in memory of her late husband.
This world class collection includes the oldest known piece of the New Testament, the St John Fragment. Other treasures of the vast, varied collection include magnificent illuminated medieval manuscripts and a 1476 William Caxton edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
