The John Rylands Library will exhibit on public display one of its most extraordinary treasures from 15 July 2026, bringing visitors face-to-face with the oldest surviving copy of Homer’s Odyssey in book form anywhere in the world. The display, The Manchester Odyssey, opens just two days before the worldwide release of Sir Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film The Odyssey.
Copied in Egypt in the 3rd century CE, when readers were beginning to abandon scrolls for bound pages, this rare, 1,700-year-old parchment manuscript tells the story of Odysseus’ homecoming and the long-awaited reunion with his family. The manuscript has recently been showcased internationally through a unique collaboration with Universal Pictures, bringing the Library’s special collections to a global audience in an unprecedented way.
Professor Christopher Pressler, University Librarian and Director of The John Rylands Library, and Dr Jeremy Penner, Curator of African and Near Eastern Manuscripts, travelled to New York and London to participate in international press junkets for The Odyssey, presenting the manuscript alongside the film’s cast and filmmakers. The collaboration marks a groundbreaking moment for a university library, placing a 1,700-year-old manuscript at the heart of a major contemporary cultural event.
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The public display in the Collections Gallery at The John Rylands Library will allow visitors to explore the story of the manuscript, its extraordinary survival across seventeen centuries, alongside other rare and fascinating items that tell the story of the Library’s unique collections.
The Manchester Odyssey project is the latest example of The University of Manchester Library’s commitment to sharing its Special Collections with international audiences. Earlier this year, the Library opened Lives and Literacy in Ancient Egypt at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin, the first major international exhibition from The John Rylands Library to be staged in North America. The exhibition showcases one of the world’s most significant collections of ancient Egyptian papyri, including the world’s earliest known New Testament fragment and a remarkable collection of manuscripts illuminating everyday life in the ancient world.
Meanwhile, in New York, Ian Curtis: Insight has brought archival material from the internationally acclaimed Ian Curtis Archive in the British Pop Archive at The John Rylands Library to audiences in the United States for the first time. The exhibition presents handwritten lyrics, photographs, letters and artefacts from the archive of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, highlighting Manchester’s continuing influence on global music and culture.
Together, these projects demonstrate the growing international profile of The University of Manchester Library’s Special Collections and their role in advancing the University’s vision of sharing knowledge, culture and research with the world. The initiatives span ancient manuscripts, popular culture archives and internationally significant literary treasures, connecting Manchester’s collections with audiences across North America and beyond.
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