The Portico Library
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porticolibrary.bsky.social
The Portico Library
@porticolibrary.bsky.social
The Portico Library is Manchester’s original 19th-century home of literature and learning. Uncovering, imagining, and sharing new histories together.
If you would like to find out more about having your wedding ceremony at the Portico then contact our wedding co-ordinator, Michelle, at [email protected], or complete the form here: www.theportico.org.uk/weddings
Weddings — The Portico Library
Situated in the heart of Central Manchester is the beautiful historic Portico Library, a stunning backdrop for your wedding celebration. Surround yourself with literature as you hold your wedding cere...
www.theportico.org.uk
November 28, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Their first date had taken place in Betty’s Tea Rooms in York, so, instead of having a formal wedding cake, we all celebrated the occasion with Betty’s fondant fancies.

Congratulations, Angela & Justin, from all the team at the Portico.
November 28, 2025 at 11:26 AM
🔗 Sound like you? You can find more information here: www.theportico.org.uk/vacancies
Vacancies — The Portico Library
www.theportico.org.uk
November 22, 2025 at 12:19 PM
This is a voluntary position requiring around 3–4 days per month, including some evenings & weekends. Trust Board meetings are usually held in person at the Library. The standard term of office is three years. To be eligible for the role, you must be legally able to serve as a trustee of a charity.
November 22, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Ballads and broadsides sing out under the Portico Dome, moving between the worlds of the nineteenth-century street and the library of the elite. Jennifer’s handmade cloak, used in performance, and a copy of a vivid portrait of her by artist Ian Bruce will also be on display...
November 11, 2025 at 11:46 AM
The Wilkinson family were wealthy progressives and supporters of women's suffrage - one of his daughters Fanny Rollo Wilkinson, became the first professional female landscape gardener.

Dickens' signature is second from the bottom!
November 6, 2025 at 12:11 PM
This new evidence places him inside the Portico itself. Member Dr Matthew Alexander Eason Wilkinson signed him in to the library on 23 May 1843. Wilkinson himself became a prominent doctor in Manchester and President of the Cheshire and Lancashire branch of the British Medical Association.
November 6, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Dickens’s name appears alongside that of prominent local members and dates from his visit to Manchester to see his sister, Fanny Burnett. Contemporary press reports and his biographer (and friend) John Forster confirm that Dickens was in the city at that time. ..
November 6, 2025 at 12:11 PM
If you'd like more information about hosting your wedding at The Portico, you can contact Michelle directly at [email protected], or fill in the form using the link below:

www.theportico.org.uk/weddings
Weddings — The Portico Library
Situated in the heart of Central Manchester is the beautiful historic Portico Library, a stunning backdrop for your wedding celebration. Surround yourself with literature as you hold your wedding cere...
www.theportico.org.uk
November 5, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Michelle, our brilliant Wedding Co-Ordinator, loves personalising the day to suit every individual wedding couple’s needs...
November 5, 2025 at 1:49 PM
We invite you to explore books in a different way: to read through feeling a decaying book, to read through drawing the line of a book, to ask what is a hero – is Lucifer damned or damning?, to ask what can books can tell us about us? What is reading anyway?

www.theportico.org.uk/event-calend...
How to read a book — The Portico Library
How to read a book is an exhibition by Stephen Emmerson about language, writing, and memory. It also explores themes of neurodiversity by offering different ways of exploring and reading books.
www.theportico.org.uk
November 4, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It also explores themes of neurodiversity, including dyslexia, by offering visitors an alternative way of approaching books and text.

Applying methods found in palmistry to lines found on the covers of well-read paperback books, this exhibition is an invitation to make art out of the everyday...
November 4, 2025 at 12:49 PM