Phil Benson
Athenaeum Souvenir
Read by Phil Benson
Various
The Manchester Athenaeum was founded in 1837 as a society for the "advancement and diffusion of knowledge". This short collection …
Every Man His Own Art Critic
Read by Phil Benson
Patrick Geddes
This collection includes two texts written to accompany two blockbuster art exhibitions: Every man his own art critic at the Manchester Exhi…
Orlando, A Biography (version 3)
Read by Phil Benson
Virginia Woolf and John Cowper Powys
Virginia Woolf's most successful novel recounts the extraordinary biography of Orlando from his youth in the reign of Elizabeth I to her lif…
Lancashire Dialogues
Read by Phil Benson
John Byrom
A scion of the Byroms of Byrom Hall in Lowton, Lancashire, John Byrom was born and lived in Manchester and Salford for much of his life. Edu…
Cecil's Own Book
Read by Phil Benson
Ann Hawkshaw
Ann Hawkshaw's fourth and final collection was published privately and named for her young grandson, Cecil Wedgwood. Written for children, t…
Manchester Poetry
Read by Phil Benson
James Wheeler
Manchester's first published anthology of locally-written poetry was compiled by editor James Wheeler to show that Manchester, 'the most mec…
Two Tales about Aviation
Read by Phil Benson
Rudyard Kipling
Two science fiction stories in which Rudyard Kipling imagined a future world controlled by the Aërial Board of Control with its motto, …
Guides to Belle Vue Zoological Gardens 1891-1917
Read by Phil Benson
Various
Guides to the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens from the Chetham's Library Virtual Belle Vue Collection. The Belle Vue gardens opened in 1836 as …
Two Cumberland Ballads
Read by Phil Benson
John Stagg
Two narrative ballads, based on local lore, by the Cumberland poet John Stagg. In 'The Hermit of Rockcliffe', a young fugitive takes refuge …
Sydney Past and Present
Read by Phil Benson
John Arthur Barry
An account of the early history of Sydney, Australia's first colonial city. Best known for his collection of light-hearted yarns, Steve Brow…
The Blue Review, Number 3
Read by Phil Benson
Various
The Blue Review was a short lived monthly journal published in London between May and July 1913. The successor to Rhythm, The Blue Review wa…
Froth
Read by Phil Benson
Armando Palacio Valdés
Clementina is losing her youth in the fashionable world of late-nineteenth century Madrid and takes a younger lover. Meanwhile her father, t…
The Blue Review, Number 1
Read by Phil Benson
Various
The Blue Review was a short lived monthly journal published in London between May and July 1913. The successor to Rhythm, The Blue Review wa…
Dr. Adriaan
Read by Phil Benson
Louis Couperus
The fourth and final book in Louis Couperus' Books of the Small Souls quartet. Ten years have passed since the conclusion of The Twilight of…
War Impressions: Being a Record in Colour
Read by Phil Benson
Mortimer Menpes
A personal account of the second Boer War by Australian expatriate artist Mortimer Menpes. Menpes travelled to South Africa as a corresponde…
John Bull's Vineyard: Australian Sketches
Read by Phil Benson
Hubert de Castella and Hubert De Castella
An account of the origins of the wine industry in Victoria, Australia. Born in Neuchatel, Switzerland, Hubert de Castella was one of a numbe…
The Lady Macbeth of the Mzinsk District
Read by Phil Benson
Nikolai Leskov
In Mzinsk, a remote Russian town, adultery is Katerina's relief from boredom. Before long she has developed a passion for he lover, Sergei, …
Ancient Songs and Ballads of Lancashire
Read by Phil Benson
John Harland
Traditional songs and ballads from Lancashire in the north-west of England from the opening section of John Harland's collection, Ballads an…
Geraldine Jewsbury in Jerrold's Shilling Magazine, 1846-47
Read by Phil Benson
Geraldine Jewsbury
'The most striking feature in the present day, far more than that of railways even, is the utter chaos into which all previously received pr…
Art in Australia, No. 1, 1916
Read by Phil Benson
Various
In 1916, three prominent identities in the Sydney art world - Sydney Ure Smith, Bertram Stevens and Charles Lloyd Jones - got together to pu…