This unique collection provides a tangible insight into the Georgian and Victorian culture of Boomtown Manchester, reflecting the literary, intellectual and cultural mindset of the men who founded the Library over 200 years ago and of their successors throughout the 19th century.

The Portico Library collection began with the foundation of the Library in 1806 and is mainly 19th century. There is a wide selection of travel literature, novels, biographies and history. Unusually for such a library in the 19th century, there is also a fine representative selection of fiction, including a number of first editions. Alongside Dickens, Bulwer Lytton, Wilkie Collins and Elizabeth Gaskell there are many lesser known authors who are emerging as important subjects of study.