Manchester, capital of the nineteenth century

This chapter, originally written for a volume honouring the sociologist David Frisby, is organised in the episodic and fragmentary style he favoured, with generous use of quotations. It challenges Walter Benjamin’s view that Paris should be seen as the capital of the nineteenth century, and presents reasons for Manchester’s claim to that title through a series of events and discoveries: the 1857 Art Treasures Exhibition; art collectors and dealers; the discovery of ‘Manchester Yellow’ by chemists; the moment of Marx and Engels’ joint work in Chetham’s Library in 1845; the importance of the warehouse, the mill and the arcade.